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#viserys didn't change centuries of misogyny by making you heir bc there was no other safe option
greenmeanqueen · 2 years
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on the basis of three episodes I’d rather have Otto (has kept the realm running for years) and Alicent (lots of empathy, a natural politician) run the country over Rhaenyra (sympathetic to her situation but she’s more than a bit petulant and entitled) and Daemon (an actual sociopath who’d go on a suicide mission because he’s too proud to accept help). the show is definitely giving the Targs the hero edit despite that though. I’m very glad at least that they’ve swerved hard away from the evil stepmother trope of the books. Alicent would’ve been perfectly legally and politically justified to push Aegon as heir from day 1 but a 21st century audience needed it beat over the head that she’s good and kind so she’ll stand by Rhaenyra’s claim for now even if it doesn’t really make sense to say it’s her birthright when by thousands of years of Westeros precedent it definitely isn’t. And yet people STILL think she’s a scheming bitch. Media literacy is in the gutter.
thank you for your ask!!
for all my gripes with otto, there is a political acumen about him that viserys lacks with his people-pleaser tendencies; he understands the system, which is why he can manipulate it when he wants to. he has the extra experience with managing someone who is not very good at their job, which is objectively true of viserys. whenever there's a tough decision to be made, viserys swerves hard to avoid it. i love how HOTD has been really showing his darker side when being confronted with very reasonable duties of a ruler and lashing out, while also refusing to fully try and rectify the messes that he himself has made. he just keeps digging himself deeper and deeper in the hole, committed to "everything's gonna turn out fine because i say so". and otto kind of has to work around it, not just for his own desires, but also so the realm doesn't fall apart.
alicent is similar with her developing soft power, she can carefully choose her words and is starting to get results (which are actually quite benevolent at this point, trying to bring rhaenyra and viserys back together, and to help rhaenyra keep her position). i think episode three was excellent in portraying the growing fundamental conflict of soft power vs. hard power, the latter being what rhaenyra and daemon exemplified. R & D are fire and blood; angry, entitled, merciless, a bit reckless. and they get to walk around like badasses covered in blood while the hightowers are shoved aside, the "inferior" westerosi to the "superior" targs. maybe that was the point, because the hightowers will have their day (and i'm lowkey here for it???).
it's really unfortunate to watch alicent just not be able to win among the audience; she could literally sneeze and someone would cuss at her and/or criticize that anyone would want to say bless you. and you're so right, she has a legitimate leg to stand on in the succession which is why we have this whole conflict in the first place! in alicent's own words, "what mother wouldn't?" but she's not pursuing it because she has a heart, despite popular belief. she and otto may both exercise soft power, but she is NOT her father.
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