Ceedar Yaps

Heyyy everyone welcome to my blog!

I essentially made this so I could yap about the books, shows, and media I read/watch.

It took me forever to get this done. Life has been lifing, but HERE WE GO.

This contains books and shows spoilers, so if you haven't watched or read..........GO SOMEWHERE ELSE. Also, other than what we already know, these thoughts are my OPINIONS bc as we know, the info on certain targs is limited, and we can only really gather what is up to our interpretation from the books/show.

First, what do we know for sure about Maekar?

He's the fourth and final son of King Dareon and Queen Myriah. Maekar himself has six children: Daeron, Aerion, Aemon, Daella, Aegon (Egg), and Rhae, with his wife Dyanna Dayne. He and his family mostly resided in Summerhall, and he fought in 2 blackfyre rebellions before his death. The first rebellion gave him the nickname the anvil. Maekar is described as thickly built, prickly, and impatient, and was not very charismatic, and became even more unforgiving after Baelor's accidental death.

Now, what I think about Maekar.

The main thing that piqued my interest about Maekar was, admittedly, his children, specifically how he interacts with them.

Daeron, for example. Daeron is a drunk. Hence the name Daeron the Drunken, but he drinks due to his dragon dreams. From what I remember, we really don't have any input on how Maekar dealt with the dreams specifically, but we do know that he knew what was going on with Daeron, but wasn't entirely sure on how to deal with it. Despite Daeron not enjoying tourneys and being, as Egg put it, a shit knight, Maekar encouraged Daeron to participate in the Tourney at Ashford anyway. Some people have said he did this because his eldest brother, Baelor, and his first son Vallar were participating. I belive it.

Despite Maekar's significance in the first Blackfyre rebellion, he was often compared to Baelor, and I believe he was compared to Baelor before then, as a lot of his descriptors are written as "unlike Baelor." I think Maekar carries a lot of pride within himself and hates the comparison. It would be completely feasible for him to have the same sentiments for his children. He wants Daeron to participate, even knowing he's not a great knight, because he doesn't want Daeron to be one-upped by Vallar as Maekar seemingly was by Baelor. And I don't mean this to say he didnt love Baelor, quite the opposite, I believe Maekar adored his older brother and had great respect for him, which could have definitely amplified the feeling of wanting to set himself and his children apart so they could be just as great as Baelor.

Next Aerion. This is a hot take that I somewhat agree with, and it is just my opinion, not a fact! I think Aerion could have possibly been Maekar's favorite child. Hear me out. I find it hard to believe that Maekar had no idea what a monster Aerion was under his own roof. But I do find it likely that he could have turned a blind eye. Aerion, despite being a psychopath, is what Maekar absolutely would have adored in a son. Aerion is an extremely competent fighter. He might have lost to Dunk in the trial, but we will not sit here and act like he wasn't carving Dunk like a pumpkin for the majority of the fight. And after being sent to Lys, he joins a Mercenary group, and his return to Westeros is marked by his participation and seemingly doing well in a Blackfyre rebellion. Warrior feats aside, he was the picture of a chivalrous prince (is maekars preaseance of course). Despite his numerous faults, Aerion might have been the closest Maekar got to what met his expectations. I think this inturn caused Maekar to turn a blind eye or be in straight-up denial about Aerion's vile nature. Even at the cost of others. Maekar steadfastly defended Aerion at the tournament even after we see that he thinks what Aerion did was entirely ridiculous. This leads me to believe that this definitely caused strain in the household and might be directly attributed to Eggs nature. Which we will touch on in Eggs section later.

But just from his interactions with his two eldest sons, here are some conclusions I've come to about Maekar.

I don't think he was an inattentive father as some think him to be. Maybe to his girls, possibly, but to his sons no. To me, it would not make sense for him to be so prideful that he would want Daeron, who again famously is not a good knight, to fight in tournaments ill-prepared. And we can see Aerion himself is VERY prepared. So we can sort of infer that he made sure Daeron had some sort of attention to mold him into the son Maekar wanted. I don't think Maekar would let him off just because he's hungover or dealing with the dragon dreams, especially since he is the first son. And Daeron's behavior might have been completely overlooked had he been a decent fighter. We don't often see Maekar bring up Aerion's shortcomings, but the first few things we see Maekar say about Daeron were his shortcomings and his propensity to drink.

But just because I don't think he's an inattentive father doesn't mean I think he's an effective one. Because I don't. His inaction against Aerion until the tourney in Ashford directly affects the rest of his children in the household. Daeron and Egg both want Aerion dead. We have little to no insight into how the rest of the children view him, but we can infer that it's not good. Daeron states that Aerion was a glad child once. At the time of the tourney, Aerion was either 16 or 17 years old. Egg states that when he was little, Aerion snuck into his room. Aegon is 9-10 years old. There couldn't really be that much time for Aerion to have been a glad child before he started terrorizing his siblings. Considering egg is still very young, and Aerion's tortures started way before Ashford, we can say that Aerion had been doing these things for some years. And I am somehow told to believe that Maekar had NO clue what he was up to? Absolutely not. Again, this is my opinion, not fact, but I do not believe Maekar had any idea; he simply ignores it because otherwise Aerion was what Maekar wanted in a son.

So attentive father, possibly! Effective father, lol absolutely not. I believe image means a lot to Maekar, and I feel like this proves it. And when I say attentive, I don't mean in the way of coddling his kids. I mean it in the way that he makes sure that things turn out the way he wants them to be when it comes to his kids. Which we can see does not turn out well.

There is nothing overly complex about this man; he just holds onto a decades-old grudge to justify anything he does. He talks horrifically about Rhaenyra simply because she didnt accept his offer to marry him. And why should she have?

Rhaenyra grew up in a time of peace in the kingdom, and for most of her life, she was King Viserys's only child. She used to being spoiled, she's used to the luxuries. Putting aside the fact that at the time she was the heir to the throne, the simple fact is that no noblewoman of any stature would have taken this offer. Even one based on "love".

And on the topic of their "Love," I don't understand how a drunken night equated to love for Cole. A 30-something-year-old man became so enamoured with a 14-year-old Rhaenyra that this simple rejection (which was more of a redirection than a rejection because Rhaenyra offered to continue their trysts) made him bitter for life? Because he didnt want to be a side piece? But he's completely fine being Alicent's side piece later?

So Rhaenyra was just expected to give up her entire life, but Alicent can remain as she is? (BTW this isn't Alicent criticism, she is just an example of Cole's hypocrisy).

He is bitter to the point of mistreating Rhanyra's sons, CHILDREN, bc their mom didnt want to renounce her royal title, run away, be poor, and sell oranges. And what about Syrax? Did Cole expect her to leave Syrax in King's Landing?

Out of anyone on Team Green, he's the most nonsensical character to me, and in my opinion, the ONLY one who actually has no moral standing to dislike Rhaenyra. With every other team green member I can find at least ONE reason that is somewhat understandable (even if I personally think the reason is stupid) that they did not like Rahenyra, but Ser Incelot is genuinely just stupid, I fear.

I've heard arguments in his defense, and it mostly boils down to his character being complex, and I simply do not agree. The most complex thing about this man is how he can kill noblemen with zero consequences, e.g., Joffrey, the knight of kisses, and lord Lyman Beesbury. Now, there is a clear reason he wasn't punished for Beesbury, and in the books, he killed Joffery at a tournament, so it wasn't as severe as killing him at a wedding, but still, the lack of pure self-control and discipline that he exhibits is insane. He's too bold; even Alicent had to clock him for saying something too nasty about Rhaenyra.

All this to say that out of Team Green, I'm most excited to see his demise the most.

Should I live-post about season 3, or should I wait a few weeks until after the entire season is out so everyone has time to watch and won't be spoiled? I think I might wait a week before posting about an episode, but idk yet.

It is perfectly okay to be one team or the other; it is perfectly okay to not like certain characters. It's okay to be a little bit passionate about how the story is going!

But what's not okay is being so nasty and rude towards these actors/actresses is not okay. Olivia Cook should not be harassed off the internet because people despise or have become too parasocial with her character. Harrassing her is insane, harassing her BOYFRIEND is insane.

pt1 here: https://www.tumblr.com/ceedaryaps/814886892145393664/preventing-the-dance-of-dragons?source=share

So a few more random things have come to mind that might also help.

1 . There needs to be actual repercussions for wrongdoings. Viserys was entirely too feeble. When Alicent attacked Rhaenyra after Aemond lost his eye (I already gave my opinion on that situation in another post). There should have been some sort of consequence. Alicent is the queen, yes, but you've just attacked and harmed the HEIR to the throne, and absolutely nothing was done about it. This is why they had so much audacity to do any of the things they did bc they knew there wasnt gonna be punishment for it. Now do I understand Alicent? Yes, her son got his eye cut out, but again, I addressed that in a separate post.

2. It might have been better to send Alicent to Oldetown or Dragonstone. I feel like between her and Criston Cole, they're the main ones spinning these narratives about Rhaenyra, especially to her younger siblings. BUT THIS MIGHT ALSO DO MORE HARM THAN GOOD. Imagine Alicent gets removed, and she uses this to spur on what she already believes. I don't think it would be hard for her to convince people of her cause if she spins it as the crown trying to silence her, especially if she goes back to Oldetown. I have to figure out the logistics of this one. I'm not completely sold on this idea, but it is an idea.

3. We reprogram Otto Hightower, disclaimer, I hate this man, I hate him for his participation against Rhaenyra, and I hate him for pimping out his own daughter. And if I remember correctly, it was his idea to parade Jaherys through the streets after his murder (correct me if I'm wrong). Disgusting man. BUT! If Viserys were smart, he might have been able to spin it in support of Nyra. Let me cook. It was Otto's idea to name Rhaenyra heir because they did not believe Daemon to be fit. Now, Otto did this so he could push Alicent onto Viserys and birth boys so he could then move Nyra out of the way without Daemon being an issue, but if I were Viserys, I'd spin this hard as hell. I would publicly announce every chance I get how thankful and grateful it was for Otto to endorse Rhaenyra as heir. I would have Otto personally working with Rhaenyra in the public eye. The more people who know that Otto "supports" Rhaenyra, the more sinister it would be for him to later turn on her and support her. I do think this would gut a lot of the support the Greens have. And Otto is smart; he knows how terrible it would look, so he would have to put more effort into finding a way around it, but it would be hard when the king is telling everyone how much Otto supports Rhaenyra and how her being heir was his idea. If Otto stays, we MAKE him stand on his idea of Nyra being heir, so we put him in an extremely difficult position.

Let's start with marriages.

1 . Rhaenyra and Daemon (initially). Now, to be honest, I'm not a fan of Daemon and Rhaenyra together mainly because I personally feel like he sometimes brought Rhaenyra more problems than she needed, but this marriage would have erased the whole "her kids are bastards" issue. The main problem I foresee in this marriage is that the council wanted to name Rhaenyra heir bc quite a few of them didnt want Daemon near the throne (Otto's idea, btw). But with Nyra being firstborn and Daemon being Viserys's only other implied heir (before Alicent's children are born ofc), there's not much anyone could do about it.

2 . Alright, so if everything goes as it originally did, then Nyra married Laenor, and they had their three boys. Here are my suggestions. Helena betrothed to Jace, and Aemond betrothed to Baela. HEAR ME OUT. I never said these would be happy marriages, but they would be strategic ones. Jace is Rhaenyra's heir, and Helena's marrying him would secure her spot. Alicent should be happy enough (don't worry, I will address Aegon momentarily). Aemond marrying Baela would likely cause some displeasure on Corly's end, as I'm sure he'd prefer her to marry Jace so she would be queen, but Aemond and Baela marrying would prevent A LOT of future issues from popping up. The Greens care a lot about how they are presented to others, as they believe they have the moral high ground over the blacks. These agreements between both sides would hold everyone accountable for any and all actions. One of them messes up its now on ALL of them instead of black or green bc theyre now all intermarried.

Now you may ask, "Ceedar, they tried to marry Helena and Jace, but Alicent didn't agree, so why would it work now?" I will tell you my theory.

I think a big part of why Alicent didnt want Jace to marry Helena is because of two things. 1. Securing Helena to Aegon was better for the greens, and 2. The bastard allegations (which I will also address in a moment).

So what do we do to fix this? Viserys must stop ignoring his other children and give them importance, ESPECIALLY AEGON. Let me cook, guys. We make sure Aegon is in every council meeting, every maester lesson, every academic thing he can get ahold of, whether he wants to or not. Why? We pre-emptively instill within the court that he would be on Rhaenyra's council. Initially, I had the idea of him being her hand, but I don't think that would work well. Giving him a position similar to what Daemon had might work; either way, we MUST give him something important to do. A big reason I believe things turned out the way they did was due to Visery's neglecting his other kids and giving them little to no importance in any sort of affairs. The lack of importance turned into worry for Alicent, which is why she worried for their position once Nyra took the throne (now why she was telling her kids that Rhaenyra would kill them I genuinely don't understand, even if we're talking about book Rhaenyra like Alicent girl ur doing a little too much.) Also, Rhaenyra and her siblings NEED to interact with one another, the kids don't know her outside of what their mother and Criston Cole tell them lets fix that. Speaking of Criston Cole, he needs to be removed from his position and kept far away from any of the kids. The mistreatment of Nyra's kids and the favoritism toward Alicent's kids can't be talked through; he needs to go. Harwin Strong should also not be near the boys; closeness and favoritism would stoke the rumors.

So, about Nyra and Laenor's boys being bastards. How we proceed completely depends on which media we refer to. For the show we MUST remove Harwin Strong from being too close to the boys. Luke needs to be on Driftmark with Corlys, enforcing his position. Rhaenyra needs to stay in King's Landing, and Jace and Helena (or Baela if we are referring to my possible solutions) need to be hot on her heels, every council meeting, every event, everything. It's hard for rumors to spread when you're there to hear them. Viserys needs to be proactive in enforcing Rhaenyra AND Jace. Would this stop everything? No, but seeing active support from the King instead of passive support would make those more wary of what they say. This is also why I wanted Helena to marry Jace. You slander Jace, you slander Helena, and by extension, Rhaenyra, Laenor, Alicent, Corlys, Rhaenys, and Viserys. We connect everyone so they have no choice but to defend eachother bc theyre once again all connected to one another.

If it's the book, then let's be honest, we're gonna ignore these rumors. If anyone hasn't read the book, I will tell you why we ignore the rumor. Because Rhaenys is half Baratheon, and what is the big lesson we learned about Baratheons in Game of Thrones? That it doesn't matter who you marry if you are a Baratheon, you're coming out with dark hair like 80% of the time. Rhaenys in the books has dark hair. So her grandkids having dark hair wouldn't be a huge shock. We would still put distance between Harwin and the boys bc look too close, and the jig might be up. But for the most part, we'll ignore the bastard comments, and if anyone does comment, you just as easily say, "Laenor and Laena both have white hair, so are they bastards as well." Legit throw that shit up in the air, a statement like that WOULD make some people think "that makes sense, so let me mind my business," and others say "yeah lemme not piss off one of the most powerful and richest families in westeros rn who are also tied to the crown." We throw suspicion at everybody and throw everybody off the main track.

But for these to work and be successful, some people need to go.

Criston Cole, out of here, Larys Strong, send him to go manage Harrenhall, Otto Hightower should have stayed gone.

Now, notice how I only mentioned Daemon in regards to possibly marrying Nyra outright? It's because otherwise I would know what to do with him, I guess he can stay on the cannon route bc Im not sure if that alone would affect the Dance if he did otherwise. Worst case scenario is that he just marries someone else after Laena dies and just fucks off to Dragonstone. I don't think the whole Laenor disappearing plan would come into fruition if we fix all these issues BEFORE Laena dies. So we must lock in early.

Anyways I feel like I've yapped enough, but I might think of more ideas later, who knows. If y'all have other opinions on how the dance could have been stopped, let me know, I'm nosey!

I wonder how he dealt with Daeron's aptitude for drinking, Aerion's unpleasantness, and Aegon's mischief. I wanna know how he dealt with them, especially after the passing of Dyanna.

And during the tourney, I would love to get some of the inner working from his mind when he goes from searching for his eldest and youngest son, fighting in the first trial of seven in over a hundred years, and then suddenly dealing with Baelor's accidental death.

(SHOW ONLYS STOP READING HERE)

I want to know how the deaths of Myriah Martell affected him. I wanna know his reactions to the great spring sickness. Rhaegar dying, Aerys being king and naming Bloodraven his hand instead of him, then suddenly becoming king.

Then, just to experience another Blackfyre rebellion along with Daeron and Aerion's deaths.