I guess I didn’t see that coming. I was thinking maybe Daeron (sp?) was maybe simple or something, but it never crossed my mind they were an imposter.
I feel like Rhaenyra could get so much help from Alicent but obviously the optics of that would be problematic.
When they mentioned they could conquer Dorne, I remembered that they haven’t done that at this point in history. I think I’ll keep from looking up who ends up doing that.
The banquet with the lords was a nice play. Wondering what else we will see from Lord Manderly.
It seems odd for her to not legitimize Lord Corlys’ children after everything but his reaction of naming her children bastards openly is surely the most dangerous thing he can do.
Calling Rhaenyra’s children bastards is what got Corlys’s brother killed, so it’s definitely going to cause problems.
I also wonder how Rhaenyra would have reacted to this situation if she knew about it years before. When having dinner Corlys drops the sons reveal as a “you might have guessed” but Rhaenyra seems surprised.
I think her immediate reaction makes more sense once you remember that Jace, Luke and Joffery are also bastards. Joffery is her current heir, and weirdly technically a Velaryon at the moment. Her legitimizing Allyn & Addam would bring up questions about Joffery.
Although with all the crazy things going on I don’t know if this is a real concern, or just Rhaenyra feeling guilty. It would be nice if we had a rumor from one of the rich folk that made her concern at least a little bit real.
Something tells me that the High Septon’s comment that dragons are a profane magic “born of lust” wasn’t actually about dragons.
It’s worth noting that at this point in history, King Baelor the Blessed (the king who Tywin mentions to Tommen when Tommen thinks holiness is what makes a good king, and the namesake of Baelor Breakspear) hasn’t been born yet, and therefore the Great Sept of Baelor (which Cersei eventually blows up) hasn’t been built yet. So if the Great Sept of Baelor doesn’t exist yet, then where is the HQ of the Faith of the Seven? Where is Westeros’s “Vatican”, so to speak?
The Starry Sept… in Oldtown.
Once you realize that Oldtown is the very heartland of the Faith of the Seven, a lot of things start to make sense. It makes sense why Alicent is always leaving the castle to light candles in the city’s sept and pray. It makes sense why Alicent covered the Red Keep in the iconography of the Seven when she was ruling in Viserys’s name. It makes sense why hearing about Rhaenyra’s adultery with Daemon in the brothel, and then with Cole, and then with Harwyn Strong, disgusted Alicent so much. It makes sense why nobody of House Hightower has ever considered for even a second that the realm could tolerate a woman inheriting ahead of her brother, or that her bastard sons could ever be worthy of the throne.
Aegon’s not dead. Aemond’s not dead. Daeron’s not dead. The war is still very much ongoing. The High Septon is telling Rhaenyra that Aegon has been annointed king in the sight of the gods, and that - as far as the Faith of the Seven is concerned - she can’t be queen unless he’s dead. But really, that’s just an excuse. The Faith doesn’t want her as queen, period. There’s every likelihood that if she wants a coronation, she’s gonna have to execute this High Septon and appoint another one who’ll be more compliant. And that’s not gonna be a popular move.
Rhaenyra already has a difficult enough time with the Faith - she doesn’t want to develop a reputation as “the queen of bastards”.
Those are excellent points. I hope the next episode (or any upcoming episodes) focus on the religion.
Alicent’s brother in the preview for the next episode says something like a holy/divine mission to restore Aegon. So perhaps we’ll get a full religious crusade.
I guess I didn’t see that coming. I was thinking maybe Daeron (sp?) was maybe simple or something, but it never crossed my mind they were an imposter.
I feel like Rhaenyra could get so much help from Alicent but obviously the optics of that would be problematic.
When they mentioned they could conquer Dorne, I remembered that they haven’t done that at this point in history. I think I’ll keep from looking up who ends up doing that.
The banquet with the lords was a nice play. Wondering what else we will see from Lord Manderly.
It seems odd for her to not legitimize Lord Corlys’ children after everything but his reaction of naming her children bastards openly is surely the most dangerous thing he can do.
Calling Rhaenyra’s children bastards is what got Corlys’s brother killed, so it’s definitely going to cause problems.
I also wonder how Rhaenyra would have reacted to this situation if she knew about it years before. When having dinner Corlys drops the sons reveal as a “you might have guessed” but Rhaenyra seems surprised.
I think her immediate reaction makes more sense once you remember that Jace, Luke and Joffery are also bastards. Joffery is her current heir, and weirdly technically a Velaryon at the moment. Her legitimizing Allyn & Addam would bring up questions about Joffery.
Although with all the crazy things going on I don’t know if this is a real concern, or just Rhaenyra feeling guilty. It would be nice if we had a rumor from one of the rich folk that made her concern at least a little bit real.
Something tells me that the High Septon’s comment that dragons are a profane magic “born of lust” wasn’t actually about dragons.
It’s worth noting that at this point in history, King Baelor the Blessed (the king who Tywin mentions to Tommen when Tommen thinks holiness is what makes a good king, and the namesake of Baelor Breakspear) hasn’t been born yet, and therefore the Great Sept of Baelor (which Cersei eventually blows up) hasn’t been built yet. So if the Great Sept of Baelor doesn’t exist yet, then where is the HQ of the Faith of the Seven? Where is Westeros’s “Vatican”, so to speak?
The Starry Sept… in Oldtown.
Once you realize that Oldtown is the very heartland of the Faith of the Seven, a lot of things start to make sense. It makes sense why Alicent is always leaving the castle to light candles in the city’s sept and pray. It makes sense why Alicent covered the Red Keep in the iconography of the Seven when she was ruling in Viserys’s name. It makes sense why hearing about Rhaenyra’s adultery with Daemon in the brothel, and then with Cole, and then with Harwyn Strong, disgusted Alicent so much. It makes sense why nobody of House Hightower has ever considered for even a second that the realm could tolerate a woman inheriting ahead of her brother, or that her bastard sons could ever be worthy of the throne.
Aegon’s not dead. Aemond’s not dead. Daeron’s not dead. The war is still very much ongoing. The High Septon is telling Rhaenyra that Aegon has been annointed king in the sight of the gods, and that - as far as the Faith of the Seven is concerned - she can’t be queen unless he’s dead. But really, that’s just an excuse. The Faith doesn’t want her as queen, period. There’s every likelihood that if she wants a coronation, she’s gonna have to execute this High Septon and appoint another one who’ll be more compliant. And that’s not gonna be a popular move.
Rhaenyra already has a difficult enough time with the Faith - she doesn’t want to develop a reputation as “the queen of bastards”.
Those are excellent points. I hope the next episode (or any upcoming episodes) focus on the religion.
Alicent’s brother in the preview for the next episode says something like a holy/divine mission to restore Aegon. So perhaps we’ll get a full religious crusade.