#can you tell i’m frustrated ahdjjdjdjs

[rhaenyradelights]

do you think rhaenyra has been softened by the show? people talk about how she and alicent have less initiative than in f&b (alicent not scheming, rhaenyra not killing vaemond herself, etc) and have been whitewashed in a way. i personally was expecting more crimes but also i didn't read it so idk. in my mind you are a rhaenyra expert so i wanted to hear your thoughts ❤️

okay here’s where i’m at. i think it is by and large not useful especially from a character perspective to continually judge the show against the book. we have established that this is not a traditional adaptation, that f&b is a textbook full of propaganda, and that the show is more than happy to diverge and expand as necessary. and i don’t know why this is SO difficult for people to do, but these are not people whose True Selves are recorded in f&b and then the show is mutating or taking away their feminism or whatever. the rhaenyra onscreen is not the rhaenyra in the book, and we have to find a way to engage with what we’re watching without using fidelity to the book.

people are currently OBSESSED with saying that the show is “taking away” alicent and rhaenyra’s “agency” but these are not real women!!!!!!! why is the only power some fans are capable of recognizing the power of being the one saying “yes kill them”. it’s utterly strange to me that humanizing these characters and placing them in a larger narrative context is making so many people regress into middle schoolers. the show is about gendered power and ruination, and the different forms battle and control pressed upon women based on station and circumstance, and the tragedy of looking for love in places where it cannot be given. showing rhaenyra and alicent strive for peace while amongst men who are thirsting for war isn’t whitewashing them, it’s giving added pathos and context so that when things change and they DO call for violence, there’s an understanding that there were other choices that could’ve been made, and other paths that weren’t taken. it’s storytelling 101. did people want rhaenyra to go from a young girl to a bloodthirsty killer at the first opportunity????? we’ve set the stage for future crimes and like….. a good narrative…. by showing how these women got to be where they are and how they feel about it… and they’re already complicit and responsible for so much wrongdoing, just bc we don’t see rhaenyra screaming “GO DOG GO” at daemon in the throne room doesn’t mean the show didn’t communicate that she approved of his actions (and maybe did so beforehand).

like not to be a cunt (and this isn’t directed at you) but grounding action in a story by expanding character motivation and having them work within an existing patriarchal framework in order to make a cohesive narrative and communicate the core themes of the story…… is just basic television storytelling. people complaining about “weakness” being “antifeminist” because these two women are clinging to the love they share DURING SEASON ONE OF THE STORY instead of jumping directly into a war they will be leading for the next three seasons…. is. stupid. just absolutely braindead and really hard to critique justly bc i have so much contempt for 90% of the fan engagement 😭

i’m looking forward to way more expansion of nyra’s character next episode and next season, i do think she’s had less to work with because the majority of the focus has been on the necessary work of centering alicent so the next three years aren’t just people cheering for violence with no thought. she’s definitely had weaker development so far but that’s not because she’s Weak. there are just far more subtle things going on with rhaenyra, who is a very internal character, and i think we’ll be laughing at having this conversation when she snaps and the war starts.

tldr crime is coming, it will be numerous, and in the meantime we’ve been given a season of character development and worldbuilding that will allow us to sympathize and empathize with these women, who DO exist in a reality where men control everything. that’s the point. it doesn’t make them weak or mean that they won’t show traditional power during the war.