#baelon the spring prince

[horizon-verizon]

Im not sure if you watched ep. 3, but I feel like they’re utterly destroying Rhaenys’ character. Season 1 Rhaenys I liked, but this season she is already feeling so oddly out of character. The fact they made her defend Alicent to Rhaenyra is crazy to me.

Also Rhaenyra begging Alicent for peace?? What’s that about?

And Ulf being Baelon’s son pissed me off so bad. They could’ve chosen any other of Jaeherys’ children.

This episode is why I’m boycotting the rest of this show.

Haven't watched. And I don't have the desire to, either. Wrote about Rhaenys in these posts when others talked abt her recently: #1, #2, #3. Pointed out some in-HotD character inconsistencies, I believe, in the first linked post.

Answer to your rhetorical question: It's sexism:

Male Gaze and HotD -- xenonwitch

Essentialism in Pacifist Women v Violent Men - rhaenyragendereuphoria

Alicent, rhaenicent, Fascism, and Sansa Stans -- rhaenyragendereuphoria

Why Rhaenicent is so Popular -- me/rhaenyragendereuphoria

Excuse me anon, I'm taking this opp to rant again.

I mean, yeah, this is really just the show's MO and has been from the beginning, I just think people didn't really think about the implications of some of the changes they made and what they meant about how these writers saw the project they were creating so now they're caught by surprise at the stuff here. It's kinda understandable bc you just want to enjoy stupid drama sometimes. But I felt that it would inevitably travel towards interpreting the actual book/orig story itself bc people kept using the "two canons" and "F&B is a historical document w/biased/sexist writers" even when they did read the book....which shows how they didn't actually read the book or understand what the purpose of the unreliable narrators & how they are there to get readers to try to read between the lines as best they can and not take some things (not ALL things!) at face value. The book is presenting the reader with the opp to see how susceptible they are to propaganda and we are supposed to work through a process of battling the cognitive dissonance it creates and/or see our own biases while arguing how Rhaenyra DID NOT deserve her fate (Doylistically/exegetically). How greedy and violent men have over generations assured the demise of themselves in their exclusion of women. Sounds trite to those who don't understand the implications.

Which is parse out the truth as best you can, recognize patterns or deviations/inconsistencies (& think abt why those are there) from such to do so, understand the cultural and character context to understand the likelihood of that what Septon Eustace/Mushroom/Munkun/others all tell the version of an event the way they do. And, with any literary text, look to syntax, vocabulary, the use of some figurative language, tone, the mood the language sets and for what reason? That Rhaenyra likely sat the Iron Throne when she took back KL, that can't be denied. That she was bleeding bc she was "cursed" & "rejected", bc she was so "obviously" not worthy of the throne? That's what Septon Eustace wanted you to believe, just as he wanted people to not criticize Aegon for being with a 12 year old girl by saying "she was of good status to be a paramour".

Back to how people use this fallacious argument abt 2 canons and unreliability--I felt that people would use this to then argue that HotD was actually "revealing" mysteries and hidden truths of F&B/AWoIaF, and that was proven by how people think of the 3 eggs Dreamfyre laid that became Dany's dragons. Now you got people believing that they are Syrax's depsite how F&B makes it so damn clear they aren't. And so now you got people arguing for Baelon cheating on Alyssa the same way some were arguing for Rhaenyra to not be the person GRRM wrote her to be...karma keeps receipts.

This show is a money-making, marketing project that seeks to deny the sort of sexism-commentary F&B was actually doing or willfully misunderstands it and most lore in order to make bucks off a rich world. Because people in real life do not take sexism seriously, thus they do not know or care to understand the basic "woman=human" "idea". People even take pains to deny it at the same level or close to racism. It is the oldest form of discrimination...except maybe ableism?

The sooner people realize and internalize all that, the sooner they will not be disappointed by this show and be more interrogative of it.

Me, I chitter over the slowly accruing hatred for it on Twitter.

[witchofvalyria]

"Princess Viserra, had a will of her own as well, but she never screamed and certainly never cried. Sly was one word used to describe her. Vain was another. Viserra was beautiful, all men agreed, blessed with the deep purple eyes and silver-gold hair of a true Targaryen, with flawless white skin, fine features, and a grace that was somehow eerie and unsettling in one so young. When one stammering young squire told her she was a goddess, she agreed."

[Princess Viserra died at sixteen of age...]

[itsburningsa4ge]

Prince Baelon and Princess Alyssa Targaryen

"They call me Baelon the Brave, but you are far braver than me. I would sooner fight a dozen battles than do what you've just done." —Baelon to Alyssa, after the birth of their son Aegon

Support me if you can 🥺🫶🏻

[blakeswritingimagines]

Dating Yandere Baelon Targaryen would include:

Baelon would be the loving Yandere type, very possessive and obsessive over you if he sees you as a lover. He will not allow you to talk to other men or even leave your house. He will love to see you happy and smiling but will get angered and even hurt you if you look at another man or question him.

Prince Baelon Targaryen would be driven by strong emotions and feelings of self-sacrifice, devotion, and possessiveness. As a yandere, Baelon would be fiercely loyal and obsessive towards his love interest and view you as a possession or as his reason for living. He would feel tremendous fear and anxiety at the thought of losing you and would do anything in his power to protect and keep you in his life. However, his protective nature could also manifest as controlling and abusive behavior, as Baelon would find it challenging to accept or respect your individual desires and independence.

If you break up with Baelon he will become vengeful and angry, he will not leave you alone and will do everything in his power to get you back to him. He may even go to hurting you or your loved ones. In short, he’s the type that will not let go of something that’s his, you’ll always be seen as the perfect person for him.

He will be very devoted and love-struck. He will be very gentle with you when you’re alone except when you show any sort of romantic interest in another male. He will get overprotective and make sure you’re always with him for your protection. He will not allow you to leave the house or go anywhere without his supervision and will get aggressive when you don’t agree to his terms or wants.

If you don’t give him the attention he demands, he will become manipulative and will often threaten to hurt himself. He will show extreme acts of love in one moment and extreme anger in the other. He will say anything to make sure you choose him over anyone else.

Baelon would also show another side of him if he sees you with another man. He would show his more violent side, he would be filled with rage and even kill the man that he was with, he would then go after you and bring you back to him, and he might harm you. Baelon would eventually feel guilty of harming you and would try to make up for it, this is his unstable violent side and his loving side would always win.

Baelon as a yandere would be prone to violent mood swings, his thoughts constantly focused on you. He would be willing to do anything to keep you safe and happy, even if it involves violence or harm. If you go against him, he will become violent and controlling, not wanting anyone else near you or being with you.

He will use manipulation tactics to keep you with him and may resort to lying and making false promises that will keep you attached to him. He would be possessive and obsessive towards your appearance and the way you dress. Will show a lot of physical contact like hugs, kisses, and cuddles as a way of affection.

With his yandere obsessive nature, he will want to possess you and keep you for himself, making you all his. To achieve this he will try to cut off your support system from your friends and family. He will be the only one who will be able to be with you or love you. He will be very possessive and will make sure all your time is spent with him and that you are always loving him the way he does you.

When he is with you alone, he will be very loving and passionate. He’ll shower you with affection and make sure you’re as happy as you can be. He will be very caring, and comforting, and protect you. He’ll constantly be telling you how he loves you and can’t live without you, and will be very romantic towards you. When you’re together, he will want to be as close as physically possible.

With his obsessive nature, he will want to marry you as soon as possible. He thinks that way he can make you his and only his forever. He will think that with the ties of marriage, you won’t leave him or be with anyone else. He will make sure that the marriage happens soon without considering your opinions.

He will want children from the moment you are married. He believes that having children solidifies the relationship and makes it permanent. He would want your children to resemble him in every way possible and have his good looks. He would want you to spend as much time with the children and as a family so that you don’t even think of spending time with other people.

Before getting together he will become completely devoted to you, willing to do anything to get your love or attention. Because of his possessive obsession over you he will not want anyone else to be close to you and will want you all to himself. If you were to ever try to leave him he would become angry and force you to come back to him. If you refuse his pleas, he could go as far as physically trying to stop you from leaving or hurting you emotionally. With his yandere obsessive nature, he will take extreme measures to make sure he has your love and attention.

Baelon would be mean to his loved one if he felt like it. He could become aggressive and possessive, even physically assaulting you. This would be an attempt to keep you close and to make sure no one else can have you. He might also try to manipulate you psychologically and attempt to break up any potential relationships you may have with other people.

Prince Baelon would be very fond of domination and submission. He enjoys the feeling of having control over another person and being able to be in charge. He likes a partner who will submit to his will and allow him to be dominant.

He would also be very into bondage and enjoy tying his partner up for his pleasure. He will enjoy the sight of you at his complete mercy, as he will be able to do what he wants to you.

He is also fond of light BDSM and likes to experiment and explore your body. He enjoys using handcuffs, rope, and blindfolds to add an element of surprise and excitement to the sexual encounters. He also likes experimenting with toys and gadgets to make things even more interesting in the bedroom.

He would also be fond of teasing and edging with you. He would be a very affectionate and passionate lover, enjoying the feeling of pleasing you.

He would be a very attentive and thoughtful lover, making sure your needs are satisfied first. He would enjoy playing the tease and taking his time to get you to the edge before making you release, making you feel even more satisfied.

Baelon would be fond of dirty talking and verbal play, he would want to be able to speak freely about how much he loves and desires you. He would also be fond of using restraints and toys such as handcuffs or vibrators as a way to excite you and make you more obedient and obedient towards him.

He might also enjoy watching you please yourself as a way to see how much you desire him and to turn him on, at least until he can't take it anymore.

Prince Baelon would be fond of marking his partner to show you that he owns you and wants to keep you with him. He will leave hickeys and bite marks on your body, especially near private areas, as he likes to leave his mark on you and leave no doubt as to who belongs to whom. He would also like to be marked by his you as well, as it would be a symbol of your love and commitment towards each other.

[ammmyturtle]

Baby Viserys I XD

Alyssa: ……

Baelon: ……I,I will take care of him, no matter what…

Alysanne: you two stop it! That’s how all newborns look!!!!

Decades later

Baelon: my son, there’s something you need to know before you meet ur newborn. They may look…… quite unique

Viserys I: D:

(Rhaebabe born)

Viserys I: look father! My little girl is so perfect 🤩

Baelon (looking down at Rhaenyra’s perfect newborn baby face): ???

[0ynes]

Feel like crying watching this and thinking about Baelon and Alyssa. It must be really hard for Daemon to know he is about to lose his brother like he lost their parents too.

[in-blood-we-remain-archived]

New Muse!

Baelon Targaryen

The Spring Prince

The Brave

[all-that-is-gold-is-now-gone]

"Very well," Baelon said with a shrug and sat down leaning back against the wall of the room, "we can just sit here until you decide you wish to talk." He let out a breath and shrugged, "Time is of no consequence to me."

[visenyaism]

enough of this “vhagar hates aemond” rhetoric we need to talk about how Baelon the Spring Prince ABUSED and NEGLECTED Vhagar by using her as a glorified uber for his entire life instead of letting her kinslay or usurp ONCE even though it’s her FAVORITE and only letting her do ONE mass casualty incident and they were allllll combatants so it wasn’t even a real war crime. Denying sweet beautiful Vhagar her horrific violence enrichment is so so cruel she must have been so sad :(

[fantasybabygirlslutsworld]

The Realm's Light -1

95 AC ,

It was a stormy night.No one but the royal gaurds can be seen outside on the king's landing due to the rain pouring harshly.

Inside the palace, princess consort Aemma could be seen sitting in the Ottoman and gazing at the moon.Even with the harsh weather, the moon can be seen clearly.

" Shouldn't you be resting as the maesters told you , darling ?" the young Prince Viserys I questioned his wife.

"I will be fine , Viserys.Our baby is as strong as her family" Princess Aemma assured him with a smile.

After being married for more than 2 years, Princess Aemma was finally conceived which was confirmed by maestor Sylvester. The news made the members of House Targaryen filled with joy .

The great King Jaehaerys had thrown a grand feast for a week in honour of his unborn great grand child who will soon come to this world.The good queen Alysanne took the role of Princess Aemma's caretaker by daily giving her medicinal supplements to nourish the child prepared by herself.

The one who was the most happiest hearing the news was the Spring Prince.Baelon the Brave expressed his joy for becoming a grandfather soon by gifting the couple with dornish silks and two midwives from Braavos who have a lot of experience for giving birth.

However, Prince Daemon,the rogue Prince,had different reactions from his family . The sixteen summers past Prince was first bewildered to learn that his sister in law who he considered as barren was finally with a babe.Later came the realisation of how serious the

situation is.If the babe is a boy, then the succession of the Iron throne will be far away for him to reach than now. He prayed to all the valyrian gods there that the babe be a girl, because he doesn't want to kill his kinone day for the throne,for ambition seems to be greater compared to family to him at the moment.

" I just want you to be rest well as the midwives told you will be due any time now,Aemma" the eighteen summers past Prince told to his wife. The always peaceful Prince has worry etched in his face as the memories of the childbirth of his mother, Princess Alyssa,comes to his mind . He didn't want his wife to end up the way as his mother did.

" Well looks like our babe had already wrapped everyone around their little fingers. " Aemma chuckled. Before the Prince can reply from where he sits,a shriek tore through the room. " Viserys! The babe is coming!" Princess Aemma's voice is filled with pain.

Panicked, Viserys frantically rang the bell to call the ladies in waiting and alert the guards of the situation." Don't worry, Aemma. Nothing will happen to you nor our babe ." Prince Viserys tries to soothe his wife who wails in deep pain .

Soon,the whole palace was in chaos. Princess Aemma was escorted to the birthing chamber by the maesters and the midwives .Queen Alysanne and Princess Rhaenys also accompanied them.

King Jaehaerys,his son Prince Baelon and Prince Viserys all waited outside the chambers with anticipation for the arrival of their newest kin .

___________________________________________

Part two Part three Part four

Part five Part Six

@michelly09s @snowtargaryen @immyowndefender

@tsunderella354

[sweetbonniebel]

Jaes's hen jēdar

God's of the sky

One

Daemon x reader, Rhaenyra x reader (platonic), Qoren Martell x reader

Synopsis: The history of House Targaryen changes with the birth of y/n Targaryen the child of Baelon the brave and Gael the winter child.

Note: I will be changing the timeline a bit, in the show Rhaenyra is born in 95 AC but I will be going with the book date which is 97 AC. I will be changing some aspects of the tv plot in favour of the books.

Masterlist Next->

93 AC Red Keep, King's Landing

„Mother, I do not understand why you are doing this! I do not need to re-marry I have two sons!” The spring Prince raised his voice at his mother, her disapproving expression tamed the anger bubbling in his chest. 

“My love, Alyssa died nine years ago. I grieve my child's passing more than anyone. I have lost nine children Baelon, nine. I am happy that the god's gave me all of you and many grandchildren. But we have to continue our line. With more blood of the dragon our dynasty is secure. Me and your father are the prime example of that. Our house thrives thanks to our sacrifices.” The ailing Queen Alysanne responded hands tucked in front of her abdomen.

"What sacrifices?!” Baelon raised his voice "You love father and father loves you. That is no sacrifice! That’s your duty and you have fulfilled it because of the love you hold for each other. You married father despite the wishes of grandmother and the hand. I should be given that right.”

Alysanne sighed deeply and sat on the comfortable chair in her solar.

“I know you still love Alyssa and the gods were cruel to take her away. But Gael is different, she is... you know how she is. Gael will be happy with whatever you give her. But what you need to do is produce heirs, to ensure the safety of our house.” 

„Mother I-" Baelon started but stopped, he sat on the queens bed. His large palms tangled in his silver hair. „I feel that if I marry Gael I am betraying Alyssa. Betraying her memory and what she means to me.”

The Queen looked with sadness in her eyes at her oldest surviving son. She sat next to the prince and took his hand in hers.

„Alyssa is resting with the seven. She looks from the heavens at you and your sons, I think she would understand. She was my smartest child after all.” Alysanne jested and Baelon let out a weak chuckle.

„I am build for the happiness or misery of our kingdom.” Baelon muttered after a long silence. The prince took a deep breath and nodded his head, he knows his mother is right. With Aemon’s death, he became the heir and to ensure his line survives he needs heirs. Despite his healthy children Viserys and Daemon, the gods were cruel.

“I will do as you wish mother.” Baelon whispered and kissed the wrinkled cheeks of his mother and departed from her solar. 

„I know you will my love. I hate to see you miserable but dark times are approaching and we must do everything in our power to prevent that.” The good Queen said. „I hope you find some happiness with Gael.”

„What does she think of this?” Baelon finally thought of how his sister of five and ten must feel about this.

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

Baelon the brave nodded and left his mothers solar to search for his youngest sister. The winter child Gael was unlike any of her siblings, her head was in the clouds. Because of Alysanne's dependance on Gael the princess was very sheltered and kept away from court. She liked to embroider and draw, but her works were... disturbing. Gael drew and embroidered macabre scenes of dragons killing different creatures.

Princess Gael was sitting beneath the weirwood tree, her hands moving skillfully on the embroidered dragon. Baelon looked at the winter child with a pitiful gaze.

„Gael?” The spring prince asked, the girl did not move. He noticed that her lips moved and yet no sound came out. „Gael?” He asked again, moving closer.

Baelon gently touched his sisters shoulder, her head jolted upwards abandoning the embroidery.

„Oh, brother.” She whispered quickly resumed her task not looking at her brother. They sat in serene silence, he thought of his sister Daella. They were similar in a way, both sheltered and shy.

„What are you embroidering?” He asked.

„It is father's dragon.” She answered simply, but the drawing didn't show only Vermithor, it breathed golden fire upon a green army. A pregnant silence fell between the two of them. Baelon sat next to his sister, their shoulders touching.

„Gael… I wanted to ask you.” Baelon started „Are you happy?”

Gael looked up at her brother a confused expression on her delicate features.

„I don’t know.” She muttered „Mother is sad, so that makes me sad. She said I will be happy with you.” Baelon winced at the mention of their union. „I wonder... Viserra wanted to marry you but father and mother objected." Gael muttered her voice thin.

"Viserra did not want to marry me for love, she wanted to be Queen."

Viserra was very alike to Saera her elder sister. Both beautiful and bold but vain and cunning.

„I did not wish to marry Viserra, father and mother agreed that what she did was wrong. I hope you know that.” Baelon responded thinking of Viserra with guilt. Perhaps if he had acted differently during that fateful night she met a different fate. A happy life in White Harbor instead of a broken neck.

„I do not wish to be Queen.” Gael whispered looking up at her brother.

„I know” Baelon answered.

...

Gael stood before a mirror as a maid fixed her violet wedding dress. She picked at the skins of her fingers in nervousness. 

“Child, stop that.” Queen Alysanne mused as she picked up on her daughters, nervous habit. “I know you are nervous but there is nothing to be nervous about. Your brother Baelon will treat you with utmost respect and you will be his queen someday. The greatest lady in the seven kingdoms.” The queen caressed her daughters pale cheek. Gael’s expression saddened, her hands trembling as she looked at her mother.

„Alyssa should be his Queen... Mother I-„ Gael began, she took a deep breath to calm her herself. „I dream of dragons.” She whispered, Queen Alysanne looked expectantly at her daughter expecting more.

„That’s natural daughter, you’re the blood of the dragon.”

„No mother you don’t understand!” Gael raised her voice, the Queen flinched. Her daughter has never raised her voice before. „These are no ordinary dragons, they’re beasts mother. They are not our dragons, none of them.”

„A nightmare my love.” Queen Alysanne whispered, caressing her daughters pale hands. „You are just nervous.”

Gael trapped the Queens’s hand in her own, with such strength Alysanne winced in pain. Scared eyes of the Queen searched for the calm orbs of her daughter only to find misty ones.

„Blood will flow.” Gael whispered letting go of her mother’s hands. Her eyes turned from misty to a bright violet, her breath steadied and she straightened herself.

The ceremony passed in a blur, the high Septon said the vows and the two Targaryen’s repeated. Baelon threw his cloth around Gael bringing the young girl into his protection. A chaste kiss followed and the crowd erupted in applause.

„It will be fine, Gael” Baelon whispered to his new sister-wife. „We’ll be okay.”

...

93 AC Dragonpit

Five months after the wedding of Gael and Baelon Targaryen the spring prince died of a burst belly in the tower of the hand. The princess pregnant with her first child wept bitterly at the pyre of her husband and brother. She caressed her swollen belly as she held her mother's hand. 

They stood among the rest of their house, the King standing at the feet of the pyre of his son, the bronze fury overlooked from the hills.

“Dracarys” The wise king commanded, his steed lit the corpse of the prince with dragon fire. The stench of the burning flesh of her husband was enough for the young princess to expel the contents of her stomach. 

...

“It’s been almost two morrows since her royal highness started the labour. She’s losing consciousness and blood, if the babe is not delivered soon it will die.” Maester Runciter informed the King and Queen of the delicate state of their daughter. Gael’s screams haunted the red keep, her voice sore from the hours of agonizing labour. 

“What do you suggest we do?” The Queen said worried, the maester hesitated before speaking. “Seven hells, speak!” 

“We would have to use the forceps to remove the babe from the canal, it may injure the infant but save it’s life” The maester muttered looking at his bloodied hands. 

„And Gael?” Alysanne whispered staring daggers at the maester.

„If we act quickly and remove the babe from her belly she might live but we are not certain. She has lost blood and her body is weak.”

“Jaehaerys…” The queen wept clutching her husband’s hand. The king was pale with fear, another child would be lost but a grandchild could be gained. He looked at his wife and then at the maester. 

“Do what you must..” The king ordered weakly.

Alysanne rushed to the chamber where her daughter was screaming in agony. The queen got on the bed caressing her daughters damp with sweat hair. 

“Mama?” Gael whispered weakly, her hands strongly clasped her mother’s dress. 

“Yes my sweet, it’s me.” Alysanne cried with a faint smile on her lips. She stroked her daughters cheek and kissed her forehead. Before she could raise her head Gael’s hand grabbed her hair. The winter child stared intently at her mother.

"The death of one gives an heir and god's beware she will bring despair. Red eyes with needle and thread change our death." Gael , absentmindedly whispered into the air, fear and anger boiling in her violet eyes.

Alysanne stared in shock at her daughter, it’s as if time stopped. She looked deeply into her daughters violet eyes. Her ears rang, the trance was interrupted when the cries of a babe reached her ears.

“A healthy girl, your grace.” The maester uttered holding the bloodied newborn. The midwife’s took the babe and swaddled it in fresh cloth. 

The Queens attention turned towards the crying babe, as her gaze left her daughter, weak hands slipped from the queen. The princesses breath shallowed, her eyes turning misty. Gael lost consciousness.

“Gael? Gael!” The Queen screamed, her lungs burned. Worry overtaking her body. She cried, her hands clasping her daughter. Blood and sweat staining the queen’s blue dress.

"Your Grace, the princess is weak but she might recover. Only time will tell now." The master said checking Gael.

Outside the chambers king Jaehaerys and his offspring gathered around him. Gael's scream of pain and Alysanne's cries haunted the Red keep.

“Your grace ‘tis a girl.” A maid walked out of the chamber, her eyes glossy with tears. “The maester wishes to know the name.”

The old king stared at the infant, wisps of silver hair, thin brows, full cheeks and piercing red eyes. He caressed the ample cheek of the baby and in turn she giggled. The king smiled at his granddaughter, her little fingers wrapping around the bony finger of Jaehaerys.

“y/n” The King muttered.

...

The winter child suffered from childbed fever, her daughter y/n was born small but healthy. To prevent the infant from catching the illness she was taken to separate chambers. Maester Elysar visited the princesses chambers twice a day to change the wet rags that cooled her body and provided small doses of milk of the poppy to alleviate the pain.

Princess y/n was visited often by her kin. Her two half-brothers Viserys eight and ten and Daemon four and ten watched their little sister curiously. Viserys's wife of two years Aemma stood faithfully at his side. Their cousin Rhaenys one and twenty with her husband lord Corlys Velaryon watched the squirming child.

"Her eyes are red." Rhaenys stated staring at the little princess. Daemon picked the infant from her cradle and held her securely in his arms.

"Quite fascinating isn't it?" Viserys mused, the rest nodded.

"Has there even been a Targaryen with red eyes?" Aemma questioned caressing the chubby cheeks of her sister in law.

"None that I'm aware of." Corlys the eldest answered "I have never seen red eyes, not even in Essos."

"Perhaps the blood of old Valyria is strong in her." Daemon said rocking the infant in his arms, the child smiled gleefully.

"I do not think it is a good omen." Aemma whispered caressing her pregnant belly.

"An omen of what?" Daemon said quick to anger.

"I do not mean any insult good brother, it is just peculiar." The Arryn answered cautiously glancing at Daemon.

The King and Queen entered the nursery putting an end to the conversation.

"Your Graces" Lord Corys said bowing his head as the monarchs approached their grandchild.

"How is little y/n?" Jaehaerys asked taking the little princess from Daemon's arms.

"A true dragon grandsire." The prince answered, following his sister's every little move.

"Are there no eggs to be put in her cradle?" Alysanne questioned glancing over her kin.

"Not that I'm aware of grandmother." Viserys answered truthfully.

"She has no need for an egg my love." Jaehaerys interrupted his sister wife, his deep purple eyes focused on the princess in his arms. "One I pass she will mount Vermithor and take him as her steed."

The room fell silent after the King's statement. With peace and quiet princess y/n fell asleep and the room began to empty, Daemon was the last to leave.

Hours later Gael entered her daughter's nursery. Drenched in sweat her linen tunic clung to her body, long silver strands were stuck to her pale face. She approached her daughter's cradle and placed a kiss on her head.

"I am so sorry..." She whispered as her eyes were glued to her child. y/n slept comfortably as the cool air of spring chilled the stuffy room. Gael glanced at her daughter for the last time.

The waters of blackwater bay were cool, they brought comfort to Gael as she stepped into the water.

It was said that Princess Gael passed away from childbed fever. But that is only half true, after the death of King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne it was revealed that Gael suffering from fever she walked into Blackwater bay and drowned. Alysanne's youngest and most favored daughter, Gael, committed suicide in 95 AC. Gael's death broke Alysanne, for she had outlived all but two of her children. No longer able to bear living at King's Landing and the Red Keep, Alysanne returned to Dragonstone, where she had spent the happiest days of her life. Despite the sadness that overtook the court after princess Gael's passing the realm rejoiced over the fruit of her demise. -From the dragon bringer by the feather and quill of Grand Maester Roland.

[horizon-verizon]

I’m SO glad that Baelon didn’t cheated on Alyssa and stayed loyal to her but narratively, Ulf being non Valyrian just doesn’t make sense. Because why would he lie ? Why would he risk his life to make the attempt ? If everyone believes you have to be Valyrian to be a dragonrider, how would he know he could ? Does he just feel the ability inside himself ? Absolutely nothing makes sense in this garbage fanfic.

I did not watch S2 E3 and I shan't, so I do not know what exactly Ulf says, but I'm inclined to think that he says whatever he says so that either he can just feel bigger & get some chance of respect/care about his life from people around him than his measly life (sometimes people be stupid, and his book self was certainly that; the drinking habit would worsen his tongue and loose faculties) OR/AND he is aware of the idea of dragons only being able to bond with those descended from Valyrians/Targs.

And it is a society-held belief that Targs exclusively can ride dragons through their blood. Has been for years before Rhaenrya was even born. If Ulf knows he had a Targ parent, he can just, yes, more material to believe he could ride a dragon.

[very-straight-blog]

Aegon and Aemond. Brothers. Rivals. They can't stand each other. They're jealous of each other. The shadow of the Iron Throne looms ominously over Aegon. It suffocates him, haunts him in nightmares since his childhood. From the moment he heard his mother's prediction: "Rhaenyra will kill us all if you don't become king." These words rang like a bell in his head for several more days, and then they died down, but didn't go away. He tries to drown the fear of the future in wine – somehow, this makes it even worse, alcohol leaves an aching emptiness inside, and also a terrible hangover. He stopped trying to live up to his mother's expectations a long time ago. And his father's? Well, he would never be better than Baelon anyway. It's hard to compete with someone who never existed. A dead boy can be absolutely, oh so perfect. The only son Viserys wanted. His promised prince. Aegon is jealous of Aemond. He's everything Aegon couldn't be. At some point, his quiet younger brother became taller than him, stronger than him and – damn, probably even smarter than him, otherwise why would he spend so much time in the library? It's not in Aegon's nature to compete, so he just gets angry and plans to become even worse, just to spite everyone. Self-destruction is now his habit. Aemond condemns his brother – condemns his bad manners, his depravity, his weakness. He had burned out all the weakness in himself a long time ago. He had to and realized it quite early – in Driftmark.

They often think about that night – never talking about it out loud. What can they even say? Aegon winces and looks away, seeing the ugly scar on his brother's face when he removes the eyepatch. He remembers his hungover, confusion and nausea from the sight of the eye on the table. Aemond's eye. Then a slap and a feeling of helplessness. That whole night feels like a delusional crazy dream. He never admits it – not even to himself, but guilt has been haunting him ever since – he's been trying to numb it with alcohol and sex, along with the rest of his feelings – hatred, loneliness, pain – Gods, Aegon feels too much. Sometimes it seems to him that he feels everything at the same time. Aemond doesn't feel anything. He forces himself to clamp emotions inside like a spring – one day they will erupt, he feels it. In his memories of Driftmark, there're only bitterness and anger, and also the realization that now only he can protect this family, and it means he needs to be strong. Aemond isn't quite sure what this means, so he looks at his mother – she sacrifices herself for the sake of duty, she does what's required of her and never complains. Aemond decides that he'll be the same. He grows up several years overnight and tries very hard not to cry.

When Aemond's anger finally bursts at dinner, Aegon raises his cup without even thinking. "We are family. You may cuff him about as you wish at home, but in the world, we must defend our own." He's already let him down, it won't happen again – this thought flashes through his mind when he hits Luke's head on the table. He had wanted to do this for a long time – these little bastards look too happy, too loved, even despite their questionable origin and the fact that one of them maimed his brother. That evening, for the first time, they feel a strange new feeling – something like unity.

[blue-mint-winter]

About Alyssa Targaryen

Alyssa Targaryen, daughter of Jaehaerys and Alysanne and mother of king Viserys I and Daemon the Rogue Prince, is a character recently talked about due to her brief appearance in the TV show. The fan opinions about her seem strangely very positive. She's seen as a cool character and a good mother to her sons, because she took them dragonriding soon after giving birth. In relation to her younger sisters Alyssa is also seen as the better one or lucky for having a happy marriage with her brother and avoiding a more tragic fate. Certainly she's regarded as the most successful among the daughters of Alysanne because her descendants continued the dynasty. I've seen opinions that Jaehaerys and Alysanne only failed as parents to their younger children (from Daella and younger), who caused many problems, but they raised the older ones - Aemon, Baelon, Alyssa, Maegelle and Vaegon - to become good and decent people. There are also voices that she's just another dead mother, her character is uninteresting/unimportant compared to other sisters and she only exists in the story to have sex and birth future main characters.

After I read about Alyssa in Fire and Blood I found that all of the above opinions feel distinctly off the mark, especially in regards to her good character. Alyssa came off to me as rather unpleasant, mean and obssessed with sex, however the in-universe book's author, maester Gyldayn, doesn't portray any of her bad qualities as bad or undesirable in a princess, while at the same time he's very critical of her sisters' displaying similar faults.

Instead Gyldayn's portrayal of Alyssa focuses on showing her as a good sisterwife to Baelon and mother to Viserys and Daemon. That's what maester Gyldayn and Jaehaerys' propaganda want the readers to think about Alyssa while at the same time telling them that she was the most unfeminine woman she could be. That creates a powerful dissonance while reading about her as compared to others.

This post will be an analysis of Alyssa, her role in the family built on incest and how it affected her and her siblings, her relationships with focus on Baelon and Vaegon, her behaviour and causes of it, her effect on her siblings before and after her death. There will be some extrapolation and theorizing, but I hope it's within reason and will make a coherent argument that Alyssa wasn't like what Gyldayn presents her or what many fans think she was. So buckle up, this will be a long one.

Alyssa's role in the family

Alyssa is the second daughter, but she was born after Daenerys died (in the end of the same year, 60 AC), so functionally she's the eldest daughter, but the shadow of Daenerys hangs over her. Alyssa was her replacement in her mother's eyes until Alysanne realized when Alyssa was 6 years old that she didn't take after Daenerys, but Baelon. From a young age Alyssa preferred boy activities and didn't want to spend time with other girls.

The princess did not act like a girl, however. She wore boy’s clothes when she could, shunned the company of other girls, preferred riding and climbing and dueling with wooden swords to sewing and reading and singing, and refused to eat porridge.

One fundamental, glaring difference between young Daenerys and Alyssa was exactly the type of sibling dynamic they had with Aemon and Baelon. Daenerys was their older sister, a little queen and she was bossing them around.

The young princes loved their sister to distraction, it was plain to see, and Daenerys delighted in the boys, “especially in telling them what to do.” 

Alyssa was the younger sister who was seeking her big brother's attention. She trailed after Baelon and, as it turns out later, she never really stopped.

Just as Baelon had once followed Aemon everywhere, Alyssa trailed after Baelon. “Like a puppy,” the Spring Prince complained. Baelon was two years younger than Aemon, Alyssa nearly four years younger than him…“and a girl,” which made it far worse in his eyes. 

At this point in their lives she was just an annoying younger sister to Baelon.

Daenerys was a leader of her brothers, Alyssa - their follower. Even in the role of the older sister Alyssa was nothing like Daenerys. She wasn't a leader to her own younger siblings, instead she spurned them and stayed distant from them. It's also mentioned 3 times in the book that Daenerys told her pregnant mother that she wanted a younger sister. Alyssa reacted in an opposite way to Deanerys - she didn't want anything to do with her younger sister Maegelle and refused her company.

A gentle, selfless, and sweet-natured girl, and exceedingly bright, she soon attached herself to her sister Alyssa in much the same way that Prince Baelon had attached himself to Prince Aemon, though not entirely as happily. Now it was Alyssa’s turn to bristle at having “the baby” clinging to her skirts. She evaded her as best she could, and Baelon laughed at her fury.

Alyssa's shunning of other girls and having interest in boys' activities sets her apart from her sister. Maybe it was a result of young Alyssa wanting to be different in her mother's eyes than the dead sister she never knew. Probably she just wanted to spend time playing with her brothers so she emulated them. Also, she could have noticed their close bond to their father and tried to earn his love and approval by being like them. It is noticeable that, after losing Daenerys, Jaehaerys was less involved with raising his new children.

On the surface level, it's assumed that Alyssa is just another Arya-type, but I think she has a lot more in common with Cersei in her characteristics and relationships, even though her physical description (mismatched eyes - violet and green, crooked nose after an injury) is reminiscent of Tyrion. Perhaps Alyssa's description is meant to highlight that she's Lannister-coded.

Does the parallel between Alyssa and Cersei foreshadow a similar contrast between Cersei and Daenerys Stormborn in the future books? Perhaps Daenerys will be bossing around both Jaime and Tyrion like her namesake did with Aemon and Baelon.

Alysanne and Jaehaerys announced the betrothals of their older children in 68 AC. That's when it was decided that Alyssa will not take Daenerys' place as Aemon's wife. Instead, Alysanne planned to recreate her own relationship with Jaehaerys by deciding to marry their second son to second/eldest living daughter.

“Alyssa is for Baelon,” she declared. “She has been following him around since she could walk. They are as close as you and I were at their age.”

So a 7 year old Alyssa is told by her mother that she will marry Baelon, her favourite brother, that she's meant for him. That sounds similar to Cersei's belief how she was one with Jaime, that they belonged to each other. Cersei also switched with Jaime, pretending to be him to go to swordplay lessons. Only difference is that Alyssa was encouraged to pursue a romantic relationship with her brother, while Cersei was separated from Jaime and had to keep the affair secret. Alyssa was raised to be her brother's sisterwife and giving him children was the only expectation placed on her by her parents.

The Vaegon Incident

Another similarity between Alyssa and Cersei is that they tormented their little brothers. When I read about the incident with Alyssa pouring wine on Vaegon, I thought it was rather mean and too much. He only said something insensitive to Daella. But one incident of Alyssa being mean can be excused because she defended their younger sister. On the other hand, when she tomented him again, I had to take notice:

One day, mayhaps in an attempt to spur Vaegon into making more of an effort, he brought his sister Alyssa to the yard, shining in man’s mail. The princess had not forgotten the incident of the Arbor gold. Laughing and shouting mockery, she danced around her little brother and humiliated him half a hundred times, whilst Princess Daella looked down from a window. Shamed beyond endurance, Vaegon threw down his sword and ran from the yard, never to return.

Alyssa was 14 and Vaegon was 11. He was training with Baelon for a year at the insistence of their father. The maester claims that Alyssa humiliated Vaegon so badly because of something he'd said a year ago and she'd already punished him for? Either it's true and Alyssa holds grudges like Cersei or... she just hated Vaegon. And I think it wasn't really because of Daella.

Let's rewind to the pouring wine on Vaegon incident.

“I would never marry her,” the boy said, in front of half the court. “She can barely read. She should find some lord in need of stupid children, for that’s the only sort he will ever have of her.” Princess Daella, as might be expected, burst into tears and fled the hall, with her mother, the queen, rushing after her. It fell to her sister Alyssa, at thirteen three years Vaegon’s elder, to pour a flagon of wine over his head. Even that did not make the prince repent. “You are wasting Arbor gold,” was all he said before stalking from the hall to change his clothing.

Notice that Alyssa pours wine on him, but she doesn't say anything like "this is for Daella" or "how could you say that to her". It's only maester Gyldayn's conjecture that she was defending her sister (in his efforts to paint Alyssa as the good one among her sisters and completely unlike the simple-minded, promiscous or vain and ambitious ones). Alyssa and Daella weren't close, Alyssa had no interest in hanging out with her sisters and Daella was scared of her.

Her sister Maegelle became her guiding star, and she worshipped her mother, the queen, but her sister Alyssa seemed to terrify her.

To further prove that the close sibling bond between Alyssa and Daella just didn't exist and was entirely imagined by Gyldayn, let's move on to later years. Daella died in childbirth in 82 AC, I wonder what was Alyssa's take on that if she was such a sister protector and she had her own dragon? Rhaena flew on Dreamfyre and threatened Rogar when her mother, Alyssa Velaryon, died in childbirth and that woman robbed her of the crown. There was a huge rift between Rhaena and her mother for many years and she still came to her mother's deathbed and was deeply affected by her loss. I don't hear anything about Alyssa taking Meleys to the Vale to avenge Daella. Most probably she didn't care that much about Daella. Notice how we never hear anything about her ever interacting with her sisters except that she didn't like Maegelle trailing after her when they were little. Even the so-called defense of Daella happens without Daella being present. Was it really about her at all or was Alyssa just dunking on Vaegon because she had a good pretext? I think the answer is obvious.

If defending Daella wasn't the motivation for the first Vaegon incident then what could have caused Alyssa to lash out at him?

I think it was because Vaegon rebelled against the sibling marriage that was forced on him by their parents.

“Be sweet to your little sister,” King Jaehaerys told the prince when he was five. “One day she will be your Alysanne.”

So Vaegon was told that he's meant for Daella, just like Alyssa is meant for Baelon, but unlike Alyssa, he protested the match and he made sure that everyone knew about it. Gyldayn did say that Vaegon was no coward. It was certainly brave of the boy to defy their parents' will in a public setting. Alyssa never did anything like that. To be fair, Gyldayn never mentioned what was Alyssa's reaction to her betrothal to Baelon. As a child, she might not have understood what it really meant and just agreed. He was her favourite brother after all. In Vaegon's case things were different as he and Daella disliked each other. On Baelon's side of things, he was too dutiful to Alysanne to refuse the match.

At the time of the first Vaegon incident Alyssa is 13, she's older and she understands more about what marriage to Baelon means for her. Maybe she wishes she protested it when she had a chance and now it's too late and she's jealous that Vaegon got to refuse Daella. Maybe she's already so indoctrinated into believing sibling incest is their destiny as Targaryens that she wants to "correct" Vaegon for rebelling against their entire system of belief. What's worse, he wasn't punished for his defiance and forced to marry Daella anyway, but instead he got his way. Alysanne listened to him and convinced Jaehaerys to search for a different, unrelated bride for Vaegon. And Alyssa probably knew that Alysanne was never going to call off the marriage to Baelon.

What's interesting is that first Vaegon incident happens same year that Baelon is knighted, receives Dark Sister and claims Vhagar. Baelon gets the holy insignia and is the new Visenya of his generation. Baelon, not Alyssa, the tomboy who likes swordfighting, who is a Targaryen, a future sisterwife raised on the story of the Conquest. Even if it's not outright said in the text, Alyssa probably idolizes Visenya (like Arya did) and wants to be like her. Aemon will be a king like Aegon, Baelon took the spot of Visenya and all Alyssa has left is to be their Rhaenys and become a mother (also she will like sex in a marriage of love with her brother and die early like Rhaenys). And in fact, her son Viserys became the next king and was similar to Aenys. I wonder if Baelon's knighting happens before or after the first Vaegon incident. In any case, Baelon just took tomboy Alyssa's dream away from her and it will affect her future actions. He's not even a girl and he gets to be Visenya. Just how frustrated and angry Alyssa must be? And who she's going to take it out on? Maybe the younger brother she hates and can bully without any consequences?

After the first incident Vaegon was forced to train with Baelon and spend time with him for a year, but the yard incident was the first time Alyssa was included despite how much she loved training swordplay in her younger days. I'm going to assume that at 13-14 and knowing she'll marry at 15, Alyssa wasn't allowed to train anymore (or her time in the yard was greatly reduced) and instead she was forced into princess/wife lessons, learning to do things she always despised doing (like Cersei). So she sees Vaegon, getting to spend time with Baelon, her favourite brother (is he still her favourite at this point? well, she has no one else she's close to), doing things she likes doing and having absolutely miserable time of it. Alyssa must have been pissed - Vaegon gets to live her dream life at the moment and he dares to complain, he dares to dislike it. She'd kill to be in his position. She's just boiling with anger and envy. If only she was the third son, she wouldn't be forced to play her brother's perfect little bride. She could be just one of the boys and their relationship would remain as it was, uncomplicated. Maybe if she beats Vaegon, it would show everyone that she's better than him, better at being a son. Maybe her parents would realize it and something would finally change.

And of course nothing changed and she was cruel to her little brother for nothing. That's why I called the parallel to Arya rather surface, she never did anything like that to Bran or Rickon, while Cersei's hatred of Tyrion is well-documented. Also, both Vaegon and Tyrion are the bookish younger brothers with no real interest or ability to be warriors. No one defends them from their sisters, not even their parents.

Baelon completes the reenactment of the Lannister sibling dynamic because just like Jaime, he is complicit in the humiliation and traumatizing of his little brother (Vaegon - yard incident, Tyrion - Tysha incident). He brought in Alyssa, he made it happen. I wonder if Jaehaerys told him to do it, like Tywin did with Jaime. It would certainly make sense as Jaehaerys wanted Vaegon to toughen up, so using Alyssa to "motivate" him (train harder, a boy can't be beaten by a girl) could have been his idea all along.

It seems that Alyssa is the answer to the question "what-if Cersei was a Targaryen". And we know Cersei is not a good person at all. There's no evidence in text that Alyssa was a good person beyond her role as Baelon's wife. On the contrary, her treatment of Vaegon, furious rejection of Maegelle's company and non-existent relationship with Daella, who was scared of Alyssa, all prove that she wasn't a good sister to her younger siblings.

The parallels between Alyssa and Cersei are apparent. Even their two sons have some similar characteristics. Viserys and Tommen are seen as weak and soft, Daemon and Joffrey are bloodthirsty and violent.

The parallel of Alyssa to Rhaenys works as well with her son Viserys who is a weak king like Aenys and has warrior, ambitious younger brother Daemon, who was even called "second Maegor" by his contemporaries.

Marriage and dragonriding

After marriage Alyssa claims a dragon, Meleys (name starting with M like Meraxes, Rhaenys' dragon) but at first she wanted to claim Balerion, however the dragonkeepers talked her out of it.

Like her brothers before her, Alyssa Targaryen meant to be a dragonrider, and sooner rather than later. Aemon had flown at seventeen, Baelon at sixteen. Alyssa meant to do it at fifteen. 

Again, Alyssa trailing after her brothers, trying to outdo them.

Meleys was as swift a dragon as Westeros had ever seen, easily outpacing Caraxes and Vhagar when she and her brothers flew together.

That really all sounds like a competition that Alyssa is constantly participating in against her brothers, but it's all in her head. She didn't claim the bigger dragon, so she took the faster one. Even her exaggerated bragging about sex sounds like she's trying to be manlier than Baelon.

Speaking of the real competition, Alyssa wasn't a participant, but she was a vital part of it. The competition from the start was between Baelon and Aemon. Baelon was always following his older brother. He started to learn swordfighting early to catch up, had public duels with him, got knighted and claimed Vhagar - a bigger and stronger dragon than Aemon's Caraxes - at 16, so he did it at an earlier age than Aemon did (he was 17). He wanted to outdo his elder brother and marrying Alyssa was a part of that competition. Baelon gets a dragonriding sisterwife, the eldest of their sisters, the one that Jaehaerys intended for Aemon the heir. Aemon marries only their aunt with a small amount of Targaryen blood and without the Valyrian look, who will never claim a dragon. So all around, for Baelon the marriage to Alyssa is a big win over his brother. He's more like their father King than Aemon is, he's more worthy of his love (being the heir).

Young Alyssa saw how close Baelon and Aemon were - it seems natural that she wanted to be included in their competition. But the brother she focused more on was Baelon, not necessarily Aemon (though outdoing Baelon is almost guaranteed to be the same as outdoing Aemon as well). She was trailing after Baelon, she wanted to be as close to him as Aemon, have that sibling bond. Her idea to claim Balerion, the only dragon bigger than Baelon's Vhagar, not to mention the Conqueror's dragon, would have allowed her to outdo both of her brothers. Choosing Meleys, a red dragon just like Aemon's Caraxes, but faster than both of their dragons, puts her on at least equal footing with Aemon, and as a superior to both of them in terms of speed. In the air, they aren't better than she is.

Aemon marries Jocelyn when he's 15 and she's 16, while Baelon is 13 and Alyssa is 9. Alyssa marries Baelon when she's 15 and he's 18. Looks like the wedding was rushed a year because the other princesses married at 16. The reason might be that after Rhaenys was born Jocelyn became unable to give birth again so the king and queen wanted Baelon and Alyssa to quickly make a future husband for Rhaenys. Or Jaehaerys already decided to pass over Rhaenys in succession and saw Baelon as Aemon's heir, therefore Baelon needed a male heir too. Or it was all still part of the brotherly competition of who has a son first.

It's also interesting that Alyssa didn't get pregnant right after the wedding despite the reported frequent sexlife of the couple. She gave birth to Viserys in 77 AC, when she was 17, so she waited around a year before getting pregnant. Daemon was born in 81 AC and Aegon in 84 AC. There was some family planning involved with these mostly even rest periods between pregnancies. For example, Rhaenyra had her second son after a year and the third son was born after 2 years. It's most likely that Alyssa was drinking moon tea, while Baelon was enthusiastic to have sons (and get a win over Aemon). All I'm saying is that this marriage wasn't just pure passion on her side. Alyssa agreed to give children to Baelon, but she controlled when it happened (unlike her mother who was forced to birth Valerion in 77 AC, same year as Viserys, then Gael in 80 AC). That's another similarity with Cersei, who admitted to controlling her own procreation, whose children she had, how many and when.

I think Alyssa wanted to have the time in between pregnancies to pursue her hobbies. Within fortnight after birthing her sons she takes them flying on her dragon and it's not because she wants to give them legendary beginnings - it's probably because she wasn't allowed to fly for months during the pregnancy and she was just impatient to do it again.

Despite claiming a dragon, Alyssa was still excluded. She wasn't allowed to help her brothers and father during the 4th Dornish War. They would never risk her dying like queen Rhaenys in Dorne. Alyssa never used her dragon or sword skills for anything (except humiliating Vaegon). When she tells Baelon that he's made for battles and she for birthing his children, I wonder if it was how she really felt inside? Was she just resigned to her fate at that point? That no matter how much she tried, she will never be a son to Jaehaerys or an equal partner to Baelon and Aemon. She will never be Visenya.

We know that if Cersei or Arya had a dragon, they'd go apeshit with power and go off burning their enemies. And you tell me Alyssa never had a thought to fly to Oldtown and burn the Citadel as the last "fuck you" to Vaegon? Never wanted to burn the Dornish ships alongside her brothers? Never dreamed to go exploring the world? Maybe she was satisfied with Baelon and he kept her home like an anchor. She wouldn't fly off without him. Maybe he and Vhagar ensured she stayed put in King's Landing. Alyssa fully accepted her role as the mother of Baelon's sons. She bent the rules of conforming to her gender, but she couldn't truly break them or she would have lost her privileges.

The truth of Alyssa's character is that in the end she always followed the rules set by her parents. In that way she was a dutiful daughter.

Sex and dragonriding

Sex and dragonriding were Alyssa's favorite activities and she spent hours on both. In her own words she likens them to each other. She says she mounted and rode Baelon and after claiming Meleys she compares herself to her dragon saying that they were both mounted and so lost their virginity.

“Red maidens, the two of us,” the princess boasted, laughing, “but now we’ve both been mounted.”

There's no mention if adult Alyssa still continued sparring, climbing and other masculine activities she preferred in her youth, but most likely she had to give them up in order not to risk any miscarriage. Instead she spent her time on sex and dragonriding - both physical activities that she was allowed and expected to perform. But the way she did them so much, so excessively is rather odd and has implications on her state of mind.

The princess was seldom long away from the Dragonpit after that day. Flying was the second sweetest thing in the world, she would oft say, and the very sweetest thing could not be mentioned in the company of ladies. 

Except she did mention it when she announced that she rode Baelon and was going to do it again.

It seems that Alyssa replaced sparring in the yard with another activity she was doing exclusively with Baelon - having sex with him. Moreover, she puts emphasis on riding him, being on top. It suggests that she was still trying to outdo him. It was definitely a way for her to take control of some aspect of her life and their relationship.

Some readers dismiss passages about Alyssa's sexlife as just Gyldayn being gross and perverted. Her sexual behavior is brushed off as unimportant despite how uncommon and even unique her actions were. I can't think of any other female character in ASOIAF acting this way (let me know if there was one), even among the ones who liked sex.

The bride was fifteen, the groom eighteen. Unlike their father and mother, Baelon and Alyssa did not wait to consummate their union; the bedding that followed their wedding feast was the source of much ribald humor in the days that followed, for the young bride’s sounds of pleasure could be heard all the way to Duskendale, men said. A shyer maid might have been abashed by that, but Alyssa Targaryen was as bawdy a wench as any barmaid in King’s Landing, as she herself was fond of boasting. “I mounted him and took him for a ride,” she declared the morning after the bedding, “and I mean to do the same tonight. I love to ride.”

Alyssa is a 15 year old child bride who was so loud during her first time having sex that everyone in the castle heard it and talked about it, then she told them all her favorite sex position. And she was boasting about it. That is not a normal behavior of a girl that just lost her virginity. Gyldayn is weird not because he reported her abnormal actions and words, but because he tries to make them sound like a good thing and not something actually concerning. Just because she's so eager to have sex with her husband, it's all good and fun. And even then, she's compared to a bawdy barmaid (I'm not exactly sure from this wording if Alyssa is boasting that she's bawdy like a barmaid or Gyldayn compares her to a bawdy barmaid because she was fond of boasting about her sexlife). Gyldayn treats this story like a humorous anecdote.

Even if Alyssa was just a horny teenager, why was she so shamelessly discussing her wedding night in public? The reasons I could think of are:

An attempt to act more like a man than a woman by boasting of a sexual "conquest" (another question is if she even knew how women act, she wasn't close to any, but I'm going to assume she knew normal conduct and chose to act differently on purpose).

To say: "I was on top, so I'm the real boss in this marriage".

To embarrass and shame the gossiping courtiers (maybe? But then she kept having loud sex so maybe not).

As a passive-aggressive form of rebellion against her parents - "you can make me marry, but I'm going to act in a way that's as scandalous and embarrassing to you as possible while technically obeying the rules and doing what I'm supposed to do".

Because she feels so euphoric after the sex and she has a poor impulse control, so she's oversharing.

Because being shameless and bawdy is a part of her personality now.

Alyssa's unusual sexual behaviour is dismissed as her just being a horny teenager or having high sex drive or being so in love with Baelon or all of the above. The fact is that Alyssa's sexual habits didn't change until she died at 24 after complications from childbirth.

Alyssa's promiscuous behavior could be caused by her still emulating Baelon and following his lead like in her childhood. When they married he was 18, older and more knowledgeable. Baelon was a lusty lad, so she became bawdy like a barmaid to match him.

I think it can be argued that Alyssa exhibits signs of sex addiction.

Prince Baelon had not ceased smiling since his marriage. When not aloft, Baelon and Alyssa spent every hour together, most oft in their bedchamber. Prince Baelon was a lusty lad, for those same shrieks of pleasure that had echoed through the halls of the Red Keep on the night of their bedding were heard many another night in the years that followed. 

One thing is being newlyweds, the other is spending many hours having sex and making it a habit for 9 years of marriage. From the sound of it Alyssa's life revolved around dragonriding and sex, excluding any other activities and company of other people. It seems extremely unhealthy. Spending this much time and focus on sex sounds like she's addicted.

Against all advice, his mother clapped the boy in swaddling clothes, strapped him to her chest, and took him aloft on Meleys when he was nine days old. 

Unnecessary risky behaviour resulting in child endagerment? Check. That's what an addict would do. Their inhibitions and impulse control are often lowered.

Another sign of sexual addiction is "engaging in sexual behaviors that go against your personal values, religious beliefs or what society deems appropriate". Alyssa's loud sex and boasting about it definitely aren't what Westerosi society deems appropriate.

Next sign of sex addiction is engaging in paraphilia, like exhibitionism, voyeurism, sadomasochism. Alyssa's behavior is almost exhibitionistic. She's definitely skirting an edge here. She doesn't expose her sexlife to other people's eyes, but to their ears.

“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!”

This quote says a lot. Baelon praised her for being so brave, because childbirth is dangerous and women died because of it - their grandmother Alyssa Velaryon, their sister Daella just died recently, their mother had difficult births with Valerion and Gael. Alyssa just laughs it off, dismisses his worry. She doesn't see the danger. Well, she survived it 3 times, so she's different than other women (she's not as she later doesn't recover and dies at 24). She wants to get back to it ASAP - or rather to the babymaking. That's a risky behavior that disregards her health in pursuit of what she's addicted to. She wants to get her fix.

All of this put together paints Alyssa as at least sex obssessed if not sex addicted, especially the amount of time she dedicates to it and her risktaking, reckless attitude, against justified worries of Baelon or maesters advice. Gyldayn could be exaggerating. Or he's just saying it how it was but makes it into a humorous, romantic tale. Of brother and sister that do nothing but fly on dragons and have sex. That's their entire marriage life. But the focus put on it really makes it look unusual. Jaehaerys and Alysanne had 13 children, but there are no "heartwarming" tales about how much time they spent in the bedroom.

Alyssa expressed a belief that she was made for giving birth, for procreation. She accepts her assigned role in life and finds as much enjoyment as she could in fulfilling it. There's nothing else. She was raised to do only this and the indoctrination worked too well. Alysanne wanted the couple to be like her own marriage and Alyssa emulates her by planning to have a bunch of kids, even though Alysanne was so much more to Jaehaerys - advisor, diplomat, lawmaker. Baelon even told Aemon that he leaves making law to him, because he prefers to make sons.

“I will leave the making of law to you, brother,” Prince Baelon declared, whilst drinking to Prince Aemon’s appointment. “I would sooner make sons.”

Apart from her environment and fulfilling expectations what could be the other causes of Alyssa's sexual behavior? It could be related to many mental health problems and we know Targaryens as a family have a predisposition to them. If she's addicted, it could be a response to personal trouble. A tomboy is forced to be a traditional wife, giving up her dreams. It could be a coping mechanism if she was feeling depression. Sex raises mood like alcohol. An addict wants to forget his troubles and just feel good. Alyssa's younger sisters, Saera and Viserra, also showed signs of addiction, both getting drunk when they were young teenagers. Saera at 12, Viserra at 15.

Alysanne was pregnant with Valerion and Gael around the time of both of Alyssa's pregnancies. I wonder what does it do to a pregnant woman to watch her mother be forced into risky pregnancies, having difficult labour and recovering for half a year after that? Did she feel like she was seeing her own future? That this will be her in 20 years? But it's too depressing to think about, so she had to ignore, repress, deny it. She was different, younger, stronger, she was in control of her body, Baelon wouldn't do that to her. This is her battle and she was made for this, she's a warrior. Her mother survived it 13 times, so Alyssa will too. Better stop thinking about it and go have sex or fly on a dragon.

Alyssa having depression may seem like a leap but as I said - she has a good reason. She's a tomboy turned housewife at 15. What are her real feelings on the marriage? Gyldayn never provides anything substantial. He says outright that "Prince Baelon had not ceased smiling since his marriage" and links it with all the sex he was having. Why didn't he say instead "Baelon and Alyssa were smiling", just Baelon? What about Alyssa? She's constantly dragonriding or having sex. Both of those activities are keeping her way from all other people except Baelon. It looks like she's isolating herself. When she interacts with others, she's bawdy and boasting about her sexlife (after wedding night, after claiming Meleys) or reaffirms her role in life as a childbearer (to Baelon and in front of the maesters after she gave birth to Aegon).

Alyssa's solitary activities after marriage and over the top enthusiasm for sex may be covering up her feelings of dissatisfaction with her life. Look at the similarity to her son Daemon, he had a reputation for his abundant sexlife and patronage of brothels when he was unhappily married to Rhea Royce. He couldn't even hold any position on a Small Council for long and Otto was undermining him and taking the spot as his brother's chief councilor. Daemon had plenty of reasons to be unhappy and dissatisfied with his life and that's when he was behaving promiscuously. Then it all disappeared after Rhea's death and him choosing a new wife for himself. It's likely Alyssa passed the predisposition to sex addiction to her son.

Other character acting similar to Alyssa in the series would be Robert Baratheon - a chief example of a depressed sex addict, but he was masking it by feasting and getting drunk all the time. Alyssa's main parallel, Cersei, became an alcoholic, which is just another type of addiction. Cersei also exhibited risky sexual behavior by having an affair with Jaime, having his children and everything that followed from that (like sex in the Broken Tower, her affair with Lancel).

Taking into account all of the above I'd say it looks like Alyssa developed a sex addiction and any type of addiction signifies deep personal trouble that one tries to forget/cope with.

Gyldayn portrays the marriage as happy, but the only one who was shown as happy was Baelon. Gyldayn sees that Alyssa liked sex, satisfied her husband's sexual needs all the time, accepted her role as a mother and gave birth to sons so he treats it like a successful marriage. But he doesn't care about what Alyssa felt, only Baelon.

Alyssa - the role model for Saera and Viserra

Alyssa resembles Cersei because of her "I'm not like the other girls" attitude. She wants to be in the boys' club with Aemon and Baelon and has nothing in common with her sisters. And she's said to avoid other girls' company. It's all rather strange. In a way she's like Alysanne, who was purposely deprived of female friends in her childhood by her mother, however in Alyssa's case it was a choice.

Despite Alyssa's distance she had a profound effect on both Saera and Viserra as their older sister. She was supposed to be their role model as a Targaryen princess. They were probably constantly compared to her and told that she's a good wife. If they want to be successful, they should be like Alyssa. Unfortunately for the younger girls, Alyssa is in fact a terrible role model.

Saera is the most similar to Alyssa out of all their sisters. This comparison is explicitly stated in the book, as according to her maesters Saera was:

as strong and quick and spirited as her sister Alyssa.

The similarities between the family's problem child and the parentally approved older sister are also in their behaviour, which Saera was probably copying off Alyssa. Saera even wanted to claim Balerion like Alyssa initially did before the dragonkeepers changed her mind. It's also interesting to note that:

Septon Barth tells us that Saera’s sisters all misliked her to various degrees.

That means Alyssa shared the common dislike for Saera despite keeping general distance from all her sisters and the 6 year age gap. What reason Alyssa would have to dislike Saera? I think the most possible reason was that Saera became Jaehaerys' favourite and could get anything she wanted, despite her general mayhem and misbehavior. Meanwhile, Alyssa's efforts to please him, first by being like the boys, then obediently marrying Baelon, didn't get her anything she wanted, apart from a dragon that she wasn't allowed to use for battle or for any other purpose than leisure flying. Jaehaerys was never the same after Saera's escape to Essos but there was no mention of his reaction to Alyssa's death. It's clear that Saera had his affection without trying, but Alyssa didn't, so Alyssa had a good reason to be jealous of Saera and dislike her.

Going in chronological order, the first similarity between Alyssa and Saera was their cruel and humiliating treatment of those who couldn't even defend themselves from them - their own siblings. Alyssa was cruel to her little brother Vaegon and humiliated him so badly that he completely gave up on learning the sword despite keeping up with it for a year, but no one ever mentions her actions as something bad. Vaegon was an unpopular, bookish and unhappy boy that wasn't good at traditional male activities like fighting, so Alyssa could bully him without any repercussions and even with a tacit permission from their father (reminds me of Sam Tarly situation). No wonder he lost confidence, closed off and took the first chance to leave the family that didn't love or protect him. No wonder he only visited when he was summoned and his letters to Alysanne were perfunctory.

Was Saera emulating Alyssa's cruelty? It's very possible. Saera was 6 and 7 years old when the two incidents of Alyssa bullying Vaegon happened. Saera might not have seen them (it's likely she did), but she definitely heard of them and saw how Alyssa was unpunished. It must have emboldened Saera's own cruel streak. Her first childhood victim was Daella who she kept scaring with her pranks (the prank with hiding bees in a chamberpot was definitely dangerous and cruel). Daella was an easy target as she was mentally disabled and delicate. Septon Barth noted Saera's jealousy of the attention Daella was getting from their mother. After Daella left, Saera started playing cruel and humiliating pranks on another mentally disabled person, the court fool Tom Turnip.

It's also worth noting that both Vaegon and Daella were in Jaehaerys' disfavour because they both failed to meet his expectations. Both were avoiding marriage in their own ways, Vaegon lacked martial talent and Daella's mental disability was the proof against the king's Targaryen supremacy propaganda. Jaehaerys was the driving force to send them away from their home, never to return. It seems that Alyssa was used by their father to teach Vaegon a lesson. Saera not only picked up on Jaehaerys' dislike for Daella, but also on his quiet approval of Alyssa's bullying of Vaegon. She knew it was allowed.

The next similarity between sisters was in their hypersexual behaviour. Saera was 8 years old when Alyssa got married and the tale of her wedding night spread. She must have heard some of Alyssa's boasting about sex, saying how much she loved it, or the often occuring loud sex sounds coming from her bedroom. It continued until Alyssa's death when Saera was 16, nearly 17. Saera's formative years were spent influenced by her sister's sex-obssessed example. Alyssa's behaviour was accepted by all, approved by their parents despite how unusual it was. It's no wonder Saera took a cue from her older sister and began her own sexual explorations as a teenager with her group of friends. She even sought out the older and more experienced Braxton Beesbury to be her Baelon substitute.

Like Alyssa, Saera also exhibited signs of sex addiction - risky sexual behavior, sex with multiple partners, sexually humiliating pranks on Tom Turnip (voyeuristic in nature - she wanted to see him naked, to see him having sex). We know she had an addictive personality as she became alcoholic when she was 12 years old.

Saera's scandalous sexual conduct was caught by her parents after Alyssa's death, in the same year. And she even used as one of her justifications that "Baelon used to kiss Alyssa all the time", proving that she took notice of their relationship and how sex-focused it was. She learned from them that a happy, successful marriage is based on having sex all the time. At the same time, the only other example she had was her parents, who were becoming distant from each other and stopped having sex (and their reasons for disagreeing were Daella's death and Jaehaerys forcing 2 risky pregnancies on Alysanne, which endagered her life). Aemon and Jocelyn lived on Dragonstone, so they couldn't serve as a more normal example of a married couple for Saera.

Viserra was also affected by Alyssa's bad example. She witnessed Alyssa's marriage from the age of 4 to 13 years old, so for most of her young life. According to Alysanne:

"She aims much higher, our Viserra. I have seen the way she preens and prances around Baelon. That is the husband she desires, and not for love of him. She wants to be the queen.”

So Alysanne started losing it because she thought that Viserra wanted to be the queen, while Aemon was the heir and married, so marrying Baelon would not make her a queen. Unless she suspected the sly Viserra to have a plan to get rid of Aemon and Rhaenys to get to the throne after marrying Baelon. However, the one who explicitly stated that she wanted to be a queen was Saera, not Viserra. Alysanne was confusing her daughters. Previously she had more accurate insights on her children. Maybe she was spending less time with them and focusing more on young Gael.

Alysanne statement has to be taken with a grain of salt, it's not entirely factual, but rather her opinion on Viserra. She can't allow Alyssa to be replaced in Baelon's heart, as she fashioned their marriage in the image of her own with Jaehaerys. She believes that Baelon and Alyssa are the true love story, so he can never remarry. Her solution to the danger of Viserra replacing Alyssa is to betroth her to the old lord Manderly. That way she'll stay far away from Baelon and Alyssa's memory will be preserved.

Viserra understandably protests the betrothal, but her parents are unyielding, so she decides to seduce Baelon by sneaking into his bed naked and drunk. The thing is, that behaviour wasn't Viserra's usual MO. She was known for playing with boys like puppies, manipulating them to do what she wanted and sending them on foolish quests. She wasn't a seductress. Then why did she take this straightforward approach with Baelon and just jumped into his bed?

“He married one sister, why not another?” Viserra told her closest friend, the empty-headed Beatrice Butterwell. “I am much prettier than Alyssa ever was, you saw her. She had a broken nose.”

This quote proves Viserra's interest in Baelon and also provides a lead to the reason for Viserra's actions. Based on what Viserra saw of Baelon's relationship with Alyssa, she concluded that Baelon only cares about sex and the only way to get his attention is to offer him her body. Viserra doesn't know how to interact with or romance her older brother. Alyssa spent most of her time with him by having sex, so that must be how it's done, right? It sounds like Viserra is unaware if there was anything other than sex between Alyssa and Baelon. She even thinks that he wouldn't care which sister he's having sex with.

It's important to note that Viserra is vain, but she is not stupid. She's described as sly and capable of manipulating people to do what she wants. A skilled manipulator has to be observant and notice things about people. And those are the conclusions she drew about Baelon and Alyssa's marriage which she observed for most of her life - that all he cared about was having sex with his sisterwife, that all a good sisterwife had to do was to be sexually available. It's possible that Viserra didn't understimate Baelon's actual loyalty to dead Alyssa, but only his sense of duty and honour. He didn't take advantage of her, even when she offered, but if his parents ordered him to marry her, he'd probably obey them like he always did.

Alyssa is seen as different and better then her younger sisters despite all the evidence to the contrary. The positive spin on her qualities is like the opposite of the negative spin on her sisters' characters. Basically, she gets special treatment (from both her parents and Gyldayn) because she married Baelon and fulfills the traditional role of wife and mother. On the other hand, when her sisters follow her example or want the same things she had, they are villainized. Saera is called "an evil child" by her septa, then "a whore" by her father and heavily punished, forced to watch her father kill her lover, Viserra is labeled as ambitious and manipulative by her mother.

Maegelle, Alyssa and the incestous family planning

Maegelle seems to most people like the sister that had the least to do with Alyssa, had a good life as a septa and was lucky to escape her sisters' various tragic fates. However, she was heavily impacted as a child by Alyssa and also their parents' plans for both of them.

Alyssa broke the chain of younger siblings trailing after the elder. Baelon followed Aemon, Alyssa followed Baelon, but when Maegelle tried to follow her, Alyssa was completely against it. Probably she just didn't want Maegelle joining the dynamic Alyssa had with their brothers, getting close to them and taking away their affection.

Maegelle joined the Faith of the Seven in 73 AC when she was 10 years old. It can be argued that Alysanne was always going to send one daughter to Oldtown, but did it have to be Maegelle and not Daella, Saera or Viserra at a later date? Maegelle could have married Vaegon or someone else, so why didn't she?

Jaehaerys' idea for arranging marriages was pretty simple, he wanted to pair them up by the order of birth - eldest son to eldest daughter, second son to second daughter and so on. It was Alysanne who had to intervene and tell him who liked who, he had no clue about the relationships between his children. According to Jaehaerys' matchmaking plan, Aemon would have married Alyssa, so logically I assume next would be Baelon and Maegelle, Vaegon and Daella. Alysanne must have seen problems with that, like the age gaps - 6 years between Aemon and Alyssa, 5 years between Baelon and Maegelle. She also made Jocelyn sit next to Aemon during a feast for his investiture as Prince of Dragonstone when he was 7 and saw that the two got along really well. So that is one example of Alysanne's successful matchmaking and arranged well in advance before the betrothals were made.

It's likely that Maegelle's future was sacrificed to appease the Faith so they wouldn't oppose another full sibling marriage - between Alyssa and Baelon. And that's why when the betrothals were made in 68 AC, Jaehaerys told Vaegon that he will marry Daella, not Maegelle who was older.

I wonder if Maegelle became pious because she was being prepared for her life as a septa or it had something to do with Alyssa rejecting her company. Maybe the religion provided Maegelle with some comfort and friendship. Maybe she didn't want to marry her brother or anyone at all and becoming a septa allowed her to avoid that fate. The opposite was also possible, what if Maegelle only wanted to please and imitate Alysanne, who was pious herself, but she didn't actually want to become a septa? Maybe she became pious because she was praying for something specific, had some wish? The point is we will never know what Maegelle wanted to do with her life as she was never asked and the choice was taken from her before she was grown enough to make it. And the same thing happened sooner or later to all the other siblings. In any case, Alysanne removed Maegelle from the marriage plans so that Alyssa could marry Baelon.

Was it fair to Maegelle to decide her whole life for her when she was so young? Was it fair to do the same to Alyssa or any of their other siblings? The moral of the story of all the children of Jaehaerys and Alysanne is simple - that parents controlling their children's future and deciding their whole lives and careers when they are 5-10 years old is unfair, awful and often has tragic consequences. Maegelle is as much of a victim here, she was said to be bright and studious as a child, she had intelligence and potential for greatness that was squandered by sending her to be a septa. Funny that Alysanne didn't notice that Maegelle, not Alyssa, was the most like her out of all her daughters. Maegelle with her gentleness, caring for the weak like Daella, charitableness could have been the next Good Queen.

Maegelle is regarded as the only sister that got away from tragedies of her siblings. But she was made to join a religious order as a child. She never had a choice or an opportunity to be anything different. When she died, nursing patients with greyscale, she was only 34 years old. She didn't even reach middle age. She lived only 10 years longer than Alyssa. Ironically, Saera could have outlived them all, as the last time she was mentioned, she was alive at age 34 during the Great Council of 101 AC.

Alyssa despite being portrayed as accepting of her duty and even enthusiastic about having more children, isn't the happy exception, the successful daughter. She has to give up on any of her previous dreams and aspirations, she has power - a dragon, that she's not allowed to use in battle as equal with her brothers. Despite having the role of Rhaenys she can't fight alongside her brothers, she has to stay behind and be protected by them. She's reduced to being just a wife and mother and it seems to me that her enthusiasm about sex is at best her simply finding pleasure and control in what little she's allowed to have and do. She makes the best of what she has because what else she can do? It can be even argued that she showed signs of sex addiction and was hiding her dissatisfaction and depression. She dies at 24 from complications after childbirth.

Both Alyssa and Maegelle were obedient daughters who spent their lives fulfilling their parents' expectations, following the paths they didn't choose, and died as a result without even reaching middle age. They are both tragic, but their parents, Gyldayn - and through them the book readers - don't realize it.

After Alyssa's death

After Alyssa's death her shadow is cast over her younger sisters. Saera and Viserra are condemned for pursuing what was once granted to Alyssa. They can't have a brother, a lover or a dragon. They aren't allowed to fill her shoes. Alysanne projects herself on Alyssa and won't let a younger and prettier queen take her place. You know she just hates the idea of Jaehaerys marrying a new woman after she's gone, because it would disprove their eternal love, so Baelon has to be forever Alyssa's.

Alyssa isn't just a distant elder sister and bad role model for her younger sisters (who get punished for acting like she did - that's a big parenting failure of Jaehaerys and Alysanne). Her ghost deeply affects Baelon who isn't allowed to stop mourning her for the rest of his life. It's written like a proof of their great love that he couldn't move on, but what if he eventually wanted to? Baelon couldn't find happiness again after Alyssa because that would disappoint Alysanne and he was too dutiful to her. So he was stuck in this loyalty to a dead wife for 16 years (85 AC to 101 AC).

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.

I find it interesting that only Baelon's reaction to her death was mentioned. Compared to the other siblings dying, usually we are told Alysanne's and/or Jaehaerys' reaction. They probably mourned her, but didn't see her death at 24 due to complications after childbirth as overly tragic. They probably thought that these things happen and there was nothing they could do. They don't realize that expecting Alyssa to keep having more children was what killed her. She had two sons, but to carry on the family tradition of sibling marriages, they needed her to have a daughter. Baelon wanted a girl, a sisterwife for his son, to continue the cycle in the next generation.

Gyldayn's description of Baelon's reaction to Alyssa's death seems overly sugary. He's trying to make their relationship look as romantic as possible, but calling her "sweet lady with the broken nose and mismatched eyes" ruins the effect. In what way Alyssa was ever sweet to anyone? Calling attention to her broken nose and mismatched eyes is rather weird, as they are physical imperfections. It's causing the whiplash, a dissonance between what was told and shown. How much of this statement by Gyldayn is even true?

Conclusions

Alyssa Targaryen is a complex character beyond being a wife and mother. She's distant from most of her siblings but has a significant influence and impact on their lives. The only one she's close to is Baelon and she tries to compete with him and Aemon. She bullied Vaegon, furiously rejected Maegelle, scared Daella and set a bad example of sexual behavior to Saera and Viserra. What's more, Alyssa's character isn't good or nice or even responsible. She's cruel, bawdy and competitive, avoids company of other girls and her sisters, because she thinks she's different (better) than them. She dismisses the danger of childbirth and unnecessarily risks her newborn sons when she takes them dragonriding.

Alyssa is deeply indoctrinated by her parents to believe in Targaryen supremacy ideology and accepts her role as a sisterwife and childbearer. She follows the rules set by them and is rewarded and praised for it. Despite that, she's likely depressed and coping by having sex or dragonriding. She exhibits signs of having a sex addiction, which is likely because her younger sisters and son Daemon also had addictive personalities. Her marriage life consists of having sex for most of the time and only her husband is mentioned to be happy with it. She's not allowed to express and pursue her own goals and the cases of her bullying Vaegon seem to be her lashing out because he rebelled against his parents' plans for his future.

Many existing similaries prove that the Alyssa is the answer to the question: "what if Cersei was a Targaryen?" She also resembles queen Rhaenys in her dynamic with her older brothers.

Alyssa's death isn't seen as tragic, despite her dying at 24 after giving birth to a third son they didn't need. She died young and for unnecessary reason. Her death was in vain as the child didn't live through infancy. The only one who was said to be mourning her was Baelon, who became a martyr of their great, lost love, and a sad widower for the rest of his life to appease Alysanne, who saw his marriage to Alyssa as a mirror to her own marriage with Jaehaerys.

Alyssa is not the one good, unproblematic daughter that Jaehaerys and Alysanne raised. Their bad parenting affected her as well as every single one of her siblings, even Maegelle, whose future was sacrificed so that Alyssa and Baelon could marry.

Jaehaerys and Alysanne weren't good parents to any of their children, including Alyssa. They decided their children's future paths when they were still too young and didn't finish growing, and then expected them to follow those plans. In result, most of the siblings died, either due to obeying their parent's will (Daenerys, Aemon, Alyssa, Maegelle, Daella) or rebelling against it (Viserra, Gael). The 3 remaining ones (Baelon, Vaegon, Saera) didn't die, but endured much suffering and hardship in their lives as an effect of their parents' control over them.

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I worked on this for a week, so I hope it's interesting and at least provides some food for thought. I'm open to questions and more discussion, so you can send asks. I might write more analysis on Jaehaerys and Alysanne's bad parenting method and maybe some other topics related to their reign.

[amoratearte]

After all the loss, Baelon cherished the birth of his first grandchild, Rhaenyra Targaryen. Her arrival delighted the entire family and the Spring Prince doted on her. As the egg placed in her cradle resulted in a beautiful yellow-scaled hatchling, it was seem as a good omen for the Targaryen family. As she grew, Baelon decided to take her to meet his mother, the last princess whose egg chosen by her sister had resulted in a beautiful silver dragon.

Queen Alysanne stayed away in Dragonstone, overcome by the grief over the loss of her youngest daughter, Gael. The visits of her son were one of the only moments that were able to bring a resemblance of the Good Queen back. One day, the prince took his granddaughter with him and the visit brought sole joy into the queen’s day. Rhaenyra was the daughter of her beloved Daella’s own daughter, Aemma, with the oldest son of her darling brave boy.

The news of her hatchling had brought a smile to the queen’s face, but as the small dragon graced their afternoon tea with her presence, the queen let out a good laugh.

[thevelaryons]

Corlys was the eldest son of his father, Corwyn, who was the eldest son of his own father, and its suggested that Corlys intended for his own eldest child to be a son, but it turned out to be a daughter. She gets named Laena upon her birth.

On the isle of Driftmark, Daemon Velaryon’s eldest son became a father for the first time when his lady wife presented him with a handsome, healthy boy. The babe was named Corlys.

— Fire & Blood, Birth, Death, and Betrayal Under King Jaehaerys I

“You have your own battle to fight. Lord Corlys will want a son, I am sure, and I would like a grandson.”

— Fire & Blood, The Long Reign

“The boy in the belly,” the unborn child who had been the subject of so much debate, proved to be a girl when born late in 92 AC. Her mother named her Laena.

— Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon

In the end, Corlys’ successor ends up being his youngest child, a son. That very same son states his wishes for a son, but instead receives a daughter. This child is also named Laena.

Returning to Hull to gather his fleet and take on provisions for the long journey, he said his farewells to his wife, the Lady Baela, who sent him on his way with a kiss, and the news that she was with child. “Name him Corlys, after my grandsire,” Lord Alyn told her. “One day he may sit the Iron Throne.” Baela laughed at that. “I will name her Laena, after my mother. One day she may ride a dragon.”

— Fire & Blood, Under the Regents

Shortly thereafter, Baela Velaryon was brought to childbed and delivered of a healthy baby girl. She named the child Laena after her mother.

— Fire & Blood, Under the Regents

Both Corlys and Alyn are viewed as ambitious individuals. At the time their wives are pregnant with their Laenas, both men are travelling at sea: Corlys was dealing with the Myrish pirates who’d conquered parts of Tarth and Alyn was on his way to deal with the Iron Born that had conquered parts of the Westerlands.

Upon his return Corlys learned that his wife was being supplanted in her position as heir apparent (after her father, Aemon, the Prince of Dragonstone). He, and Rhaenys, believed that their unborn son’s birthright was being usurped. As a result, he quit from his position as Master of Ships. His daughter, Laena, was born later in the same year. Since her parents have removed themselves from the center of court life, Laena’s birth is a quiet affair.

His sons and daughters would soar through the skies, Lord Corlys expected, and one day one of them would sit the Iron Throne. Unsurprisingly, the Sea Snake was bitterly disappointed when Prince Aemon died and King Jaehaerys bypassed Aemon’s daughter, Rhaenys, in favor of his brother, Baelon the Spring Prince.

— Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon

Rhaenys herself was the first to raise objection. “You would rob my son of his birthright,” she told the king, with a hand upon her swollen belly. Her husband, Corlys Velaryon, was so wroth that he gave up his admiralty and his place on the small council and took his wife back to Driftmark.

— Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon

The finality of Corlys' wife & children being removed from the line of inheritance is confirmed upon the selection of Viserys I at the Great Council of 101 AC. Corlys obviously does not take well to this news. He had previously quit his position as Master of Ships and he keeps to this decision by continuing to maintain his distance from the royal court.

His Grace thanked the lords for their service and gratefully conferred the style Prince of Dragonstone upon his grandson Viserys. Storm’s End and Driftmark accepted the decision, if grudgingly; the vote had been so overwhelming that even Laenor’s father and mother saw that they could not hope to prevail.

— Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon

Nor was the Sea Snake pleased when word reached Driftmark. House Velaryon had been passed over once again, his daughter, Laena, scorned just as his son, Laenor, had been scorned by the Great Council, and his wife by the Old King back in 92 AC. [...] When King Viserys took Alicent Hightower to wife in 106 AC, House Velaryon was notable for its absence.

— Fire & Blood, Heirs of the Dragon

Unlike Corlys and Rhaenys, who did seek to claim the Iron Throne, their narrative successors, Alyn and Baela, don’t feel the same.

Baela knew that she was technically Aegon III’s heir, but she went out of her way to distance herself from the position, most especially when she chose to marry Alyn. I think she would be well aware how her actions would be perceived by the Small Council, but she remained unbothered by loosing her position as heir apparent to the Iron Throne.

For the Hand and council of regents, Baela Targaryen’s midnight flight across Blackwater Bay had confirmed all their doubts about her. “The girl is wild, willful, and wanton, as we feared,” Ser Willis Fell declared mournfully, “and now she has tied herself to Lord Corlys’s upjumped bastard. A snake for a sire, a mouse for a mother…is this to be our prince consort?” The regents were in agreement; Baela Targaryen could not be King Aegon’s heir.

— Fire & Blood, Under the Regents

When it comes to Alyn, there’s greater suspicion placed on his intentions to claim the Iron Throne (probably because bastards are considered treacherous by nature), through a son by Baela. He certainly doesn’t help matters through the comments he’s making when he’s trying to joke with his wife.

The Hand would have preferred a longer betrothal, but the regents felt it prudent for Rhaena to wed quickly, in the event that her sister was already with child.

— Fire & Blood, Under the Regents

Never fond of Lady Baela, he now had reason to mislike her sister Rhaena as well; both of them, he was convinced, were working against him, most like at the behest of Baela’s husband, the insolent and rebellious Oakenfist. The twins had deliberately and with malice aforethought wrecked his own plans to secure the succession, he told his own loyalists, and by seeing to it that the king took to wife a six-year-old they had ensured that the child Baela carried would be next in line to the Iron Throne.

“If the child is a boy, His Grace will never live long enough to sire an heir of his own body,” Peake said to Marston Waters once, in Mushroom’s presence.

— Fire & Blood, Under the Regents

Unwin was really going around trying to convince people that Alyn was going to assassinate Aegon III. Silly old man.

Alyn’s daughter, Laena, is born while he was still travelling. He obviously does not find out until months later. Despite his previous statement in which he declared his intentions for a son who could one day claim the Iron Throne, Alyn then does the unexpected: he brings home with him the actual heir to the Iron Throne, the future Viserys II.

The leading elements of the Velaryon fleet returned to King’s Landing bearing a cryptic message: Oakenfist had sent them on ahead whilst he set sail for Lys to secure “a treasure beyond price.”

[…]

Oakenfist’s “treasure” was Viserys Targaryen, the king’s lost brother, the youngest son of Queen Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon, presumed dead since the Battle of the Gullet, and missing for nigh unto five years.

[…]

The return of the lost prince resolved the question of succession as well. As the king’s brother, Viserys was the undisputed heir apparent, ahead of any child born to Baela Velaryon or Rhaena Corbray, or the twins themselves.

— Fire & Blood, Under the Regents

The first thing Alyn does when he returns home, before he even greets the King and Queen, is to see his wife and child. It’s at this point that he learns he has a daughter.

There, before the eyes of tens of thousands, Lord Alyn Oakenfist beheld his daughter, Laena, for the first time. After kissing his lady wife, he took the child from her and held her high for all the crowd to see, as the cheers fell like thunder. Only then did he return the girl to her mother’s arms and bend his knee before the king and queen.

— Fire & Blood, Under the Regents

It’s easy to see how despite being similar type of characters, there’s still some key differences that set Corlys and Alyn apart.