#then the dance of dragons is just a copy and paste of the anarchy imo

[shesnikt]

throw back to when my granddad asked what i was watching i said 'its the anarchy but with dragons'

[sayruq]

1/2: Reading about Mathilda and the Anarchy, it drives to the point how dirty Martin did to Rhaenyra and the other Dance Queens, but particularly Rhaenyra. Like he made Daemon and suddenly turned it into a redo of Cersei/Jaime/Brienne (the novel dynamics) but with Dragons and more inbreeding: incompetent vicious used-to-be beautiful tyrannical queen who is portrayed as gaining weight and being a political inept, the 'badass' rogue relative lover who finds redemption with ambiguous bond with a

2/2: not classically beautiful warrior/tomboy teenage girl (Brienne IS 17, isn't she?) he wouldn't have considered beautiful by his standards. It's like copy/paste with less layered characterization and only circumstantial background change because dragons and Anarchy setting instead of War of the Roses. Show Rhaenyra is a little bland but I hope she won't get this sexist interpretation. Say what you want of HBO, but they gave Cersei justice more than Martin did, IMO.

He can't help himself, even when he is commenting on misogyny he has to undermine his own commentary. Rhaenyra is treated like Lysa in the books - reduced to negative traits and they're both unreasonably obsessed with male characters who are more interested in teenagers. They have the same 'gaining weight while a rival remains thin and beautiful' nonsense given to them. We don't see much about how Rhaenyra (the crown princess) rules Dragonstone which would explain how Aegon was able to take it because this is the nonsense we're given instead.

What's worse is that Rhaenyra v Aegon II is clearly meant to foreshadow Aegon VI v Daenerys. I believe Rhaenyra is Aegon VI's historical mirror (older, doesn't use dragons during the war, marries an older spouse, Rhaenyra's oath ceremony before Aegon II is born = Aegon VI's coronation before Daenerys arrives, greater support among the lords, nominal heir before their rival was born, etc.) though she's not an exact copy (Aegon VI will have greater support amongst the smallfolk than Rhaenyra) so imagine how it will look when Aegon is able to have diplomatic and military success while Rhaenyra is shown to be less capable than her sheltered teen son.

The thing is the show fails Rhaenyra in a different way. She's now politically inept and very passive, relying on her father, uncle and sons to act for her. I don't think Rhaenyra will go to battle like some Green stans. I think she'll remain in Dragonstone being very passive because war and politics are for men only. It will look equally bad as the show continues to offload her actions onto Daemon, leaving Rhaenyra playing an even smaller role in the success and failure of Team Black. Meaning people will have less sympathy for her when it all falls apart because Rhaenyra would not be allowed to do anything to try and prevent or cause it (because Alicent won't do anything either).

She won't order the executions of her enemies and they'll emphasise how taking the treasury will leave Rhaenyra with little choice which isn't bad on its own but this will be yet another instance where Rhaenyra doesn't get to act. The problem wasn't just raising taxes on the city, it was hosting lavish feasts. Rhaenyra consistently has a PR management problem and this causes people to hate her. But in the show, they'll hate her despite the fact that she will not do anything to gain their hatred (or at least it will be someone else's fault) and after many eps of Rhaenyra being passive, I just don't see people caring.

There will come a point where Rhaenyra will frustrate even the people who like her. Say what you will about how GoT handled the Starks but they played a part in their tragedy, which added to their likeability.

Imagine people's reactions when Rhaenyra does nothing while the dragons and her son are killed; meanwhile, a disabled Aegon II ends the war singlehandedly despite gaining new injuries.