Tag: Anonymous

this may be a stupid question, but can you explain why aerys wasn’t killed earlier? he was declining for a while, why didn’t anyone hire an assassin or poison him? is there a reason or did grrm just ignore that for the plot?

Short answer: regicide ain’t easy.

Long answer:

Regicide ain’t easy because assassinating a King within the confines of his own castle is just always going to be a very difficult thing to do. Kings have castle guards, they have taste testers, and they have the Kingsguard, a group of highly-skilled, duty bound warriors to protect them everywhere they go. This is why Aerys died the way that he did; he was left in a largely unguarded castle with only one Kingsguard knight, Jaime Lannister, to protect him, and it was that Kingsguard knight that turned against him. Jaime had the motive to kill Aerys, and so he did. 

Looking back at the previous kings, only two have died due to assassination: Aegon II and Joffrey Baratheon, both by poisoned wine. The other kings who did die early died in battle or as a consequence of war, died of an illness, or in a special circumstance, such as Baelor’s starving himself to death, Aegon V’s death at Summerhall, or Robert’s death by boar (which is partly an assassination, partly an act of nature).

As for why no one killed Aerys before, it was because no one could. The Defiance of Duskendale put Aerys very close to death. He had arrived at Duskendale (thus, he left the safety of his castle) with a small group of men and only one Kingsguard knight, which made kidnapping and imprisoning him an easy feat. It is after Duskendale that Aerys began to slip into madness and became very, very insular. Here’s how it’s outlined in A World of Ice and Fire:

“After his release, King Aerys would no longer allow himself to be touched, even by his own servants. Uncut and unwashed, his hair grew ever longer and more tangled, whilst his fingernails lengthened and thickened into grotesque yellow talons. He forbade any blade in his presence save for the swords carried by the knights of his Kingsguard, sworn to protect him. His judgments became ever harsher and crueler.

Once safely returned to King’s Landing, His Grace refused to leave the Red Keep for any cause and remained a virtual prisoner in his own castle for the next four years, during which time he grew ever more wary of those around him, Tywin Lannister in particular. His suspicions extended even to his own son and heir. Prince Rhaegar, he was convinced, had conspired with Tywin Lannister to have him slain at Duskendale.”

He also had taste testers for his food, yet still ate very little.

So realistically, the only way Aerys could be killed was if he left the Red Keep with too few people to defend him which 1) he never left the Red Keep and 2) the one time he did, it was to attend the Tourney at Harrenhal where he felt that Rhaegar was planning to betray him, and it was with the entire Kingsguard and a large escort otherwise at his disposal.

Moreover, hiring an assassin or using poison is not an acceptable way of moving onto the heir. There is a reason why Rickard was forming a power bloc, and a reason why Rhaegar didn’t depose his father at the first opportunity. An effective transition of power requires the aggressor to have plenty of political and military power at his back. It requires them to have some form of popular support. It requires a measure of transparency. Only that way could their usurpation be considered honorable, because it gives the one being usurped a chance to fight back and know his aggressors. Otherwise, you get what happened with Aegon II and Joffrey’s deaths: a rush to find the perpetrator, arresting innocent people and branding other innocent people as murderers. It is not peaceful, it is not legal, it is not honorable, and should the Tyrells ever be exposed for it, they’d have to deal with massive political backlash that could very well be the end of them.

why do you think lyanna was never proposed as a match for jaime lannister? as far as southron ambitions go, a lannister match seems more ambitious than a baratheon one and just from a political standpoint it would make more sense for the lannisters than a martell match (and a lysa tully one since technically lyanna is the eldest daughter). and they’re a similar age so it just makes sense for it to be considered at least imo

I think it all boils down to Rickard’s perception of Tywin Lannister, either not wanting him as a partner or expecting to be rejected outright. Tywin already had a reputation for ruthlessness with his actions towards the Tarbecks and the Reynes, as well as the punishment he wrought upon his father’s mistress after his father died. Coupled with once being Hand to Aerys, refusing to marry Cersei to anyone but Rhaegar (and then refusing to marry her off even after Rhaegar was off the market), perhaps Rickard doubted Tywin’s loyalty to him if swayed to his side and/or feared his ambition. Even with Tywin’s personal grievances against Aerys, Tywin was not one known for friendliness or general trustworthiness.

On the other side, Tywin may not have seen a northern alliance as a useful one, or a war against the Crown as a safe move. The North is far removed from the politics he’s involved in and is removed geographically. Then as we later see during the course of the war, Tywin does not involve himself until literally the last minute, indicating that he was simply waiting it out to see who the clear winner was before making his move.

Then there are Rickard’s own motives to take into account. He was developing a power bloc of nobles who were able and prepared to dethrone Aerys. Tywin, who was once Aerys’s close friend, would not be the safest pick. To approach him with a plan of war against Aerys would have been a risk Rickard was wise not to take. With Tywin once having been Aerys’s friend, he might have leaked such information immediately to earn himself royal favor. Robert was an especially good pick because he had no significant royalist influence, young, able-bodied, a skilled warrior, and the Lord of Storm’s End, having already come into his birthright (whereas Jaime was still merely an heir). His father, who had been a friend of Aerys’s, had died when he was young, he was close friends with Ned, and he looked to Jon Arryn as a foster father. Jon Arryn was receptive to and possibly even an architect of Rickard’s “southron ambitions”, he had both Ned and Robert under his care (while the two were becoming close and fast friends), and his loyalty to his foster sons was genuine.

Under such circumstances, when the choice is between Robert and Jaime, the winner is clear. Lannister gold means nothing if there is no loyalty attached, and I am certain that Rickard knew that Tywin’s loyalty would be hard bought and difficult to keep, whereas Robert could be easily swayed and kept to his side.

In any case, the unlikely match between Jaime and Lyanna would have disappeared into thin air upon Jaime’s induction into the Kingsguard, which would have been an entirely different mess.

How old were rhaegar and elia at the time of their wedding? I received an asshole anon telling me that rhaegar had all the right to cast elia and her kids(this is a tendency I’ve noticed a lot, they never refer to them as rhaegar’s kids) aside because he was seventeen when he was forced to marry the old crown elia. My calculations say he was at least ninteen, and wasn’t elia only two years older than him?

Elia was older, but not much older. Rhaegar was 20/21 at the time of their wedding, and Elia was 22-24. That’s not a big age difference at all.

I’m curious now tho… you think Rhaegar’s choice of Lyanna to deliver his third head of the dragon was just because she was there (she was a noble lady who wanted an out of her engagement to Robert and she was his warrior Visenya, also he might have liked her and she liked him) or that it was deliberate because it has to be ice and fire and there’s an old magic in the Stark blood? Like, if Elia had been able to deliver a third child, you think Rhaegar wouldn’t have still taken Lyanna?

We don’t know if there is a mystical reason behind choosing Lyanna, such as her Stark blood, old magic, etc. What we do know is that Lyanna was unhappy in her betrothal and that Rhaegar must have had some sort of contact with her prior to and/or before he crowned her the queen of love and beauty. He chose her at Harrenhal for a reason– but again, there is nothing that details that reason, and thus we can only speculate.

The fact that Rhaegar waited until after Aegon was born says to me that he was also waiting on a verdict for the feasibility of Elia being able to have another child soon. Rhaegar appeared to have wanted to act fast, perhaps fearful that the final battle was coming soon and anxious to fulfill his prophecy. 

So no, I don’t think he would have chosen Lyanna if he had been told that Elia was fit enough to carry another child basically immediately. It all happens very quickly, and with Lyanna being highborn, desperate to escape her betrothal, and having made herself memorable to him in some way, she was his best pick.

I feel like ashara was the bride aerys should’ve given rhaegar. Why didn’t he? She, with her dark hair and purple eyes, would have complemented his beauty more than e/*a ever could hope to. And targaryens had previously married Daynes, so she had valyrian blood too, hence her eyes. She was also healthy, she would’ve been able to give rhaegar his dragon heads. I’m very interested to know why aerys apparently didn’t even consider ashara. Can you please tell a sensible reason for this? I’m puzzled.

Ashara would have been a good match, but not as good as Elia. There is a post out there that I remember reading (and reblogging) that made a case for Ashara, but I’m having trouble finding it now (help me pls).

Despite the Daynes having classic Valyrian features, they are not actually of Valyrian descent, as confirmed by GRRM himself:

I would have to consult my notes to tell you the Dayne arms. Offhand I don’t recall. As for the violet eyes …look, Elizabeth Taylor has violet eyes, and she’s not of Valyrian descent (that I know). Nor is she related to Aegon the Conquerer. Many Swedes have blue eyes, but not all those with blue eyes are Swedes, and not all Swedes have blue eyes. The same confusions exist in the 7 Kingdoms.

When Aerys looked abroad for a wife for Rhaegar, he was looking among ethnic groups that may have possessed Valyrian blood. They found such women, but they weren’t highborn enough, and thus Aerys abandoned the idea of an Essosi wife for his son.

House Martell, on the other hand, is an appropriately highborn house and have had previous Targaryen-Martell marriages, both of which have direct lines to the current generation of each house. in addition to being a wealthy, stable, and well-connected house, there really was few reasons to refuse such a match, even if Elia Martell was sickly.

Aerys was also a racist, and possessed anti-Dornish sentiments that he even reflected onto his own granddaughter. If Aerys has to choose between a non-Valyrian Dornishwomen of lower nobility and a Martell princess with Targaryen lineage, he is going to choose the latter, despite his own racism.

I’ve so far laid this out without addressing your own prejudices, which are obvious. Elia Martell was regarded as beautiful. Those who disagreed are people had reason to hate her, such as Jon Connington and Cersei Lannister. Beauty is subjective.

Secondly, it’s not Elia’s fault that she was too sick to give Rhaegar three kids. She gave him two. It wasn’t as if she was obligated to give him more; Rhaegar wanted more, and when he found that she was unlikely to give him more, he looked elsewhere. That’s Rhaegar’s problem, not Elia’s. Citing her health in this case is ableist and unnecessary.

You’re like my favorite asoiaf blog ever and you share my fmab love too, so I wanna rec you my most favourite fmab fic ever. Catalysis by aventria and iluxia. Can be found on both ffnet and Ao3. But be warned it’s a work in progress, hasn’t updated in 4 years -but author promises she’s working on it. It’s also gonna have a gay main pair in future – fine if you don’t read that but it’s ed’s pov and has mind blowing world building. Roy mustang is portrayed as uber politician to the t. Try it? đź‘Ť

thank you!!!