💭

this is just my take others can disagree but corlys saying jace lived and died as a bastard is taken a lil out of context. its severe yes and somewhat offshoot for corlys but what i feel he meant is jace was never officially legitimized, his bastardy was a taboo subject though nearly everyone knew it was rarely openly addressed. we know jace was also conscious of this fact after the dragonseeds were recruited. corlys does not want the same fate for his bastards so to say. unlike jace and luke, alyn and addam are openly declared bastards, him advocating to the queen now that she holds the throne to officially legitimize them through a formal decree is what he wants, more so after losing much almost every thing at the battle of gullet. he does not want his sons to live and die as bastards like rhaenyra sons unfortunately did.

he should have stated his grievance in a kinder way and perhaps in a more secluded place but his anger is justified in his mind after the losses he had suffered in this war, he wants a recompense of some sort. i do think he should have offered driftmark to rhaena as well after baela rejected it and if she too did not want it then he could have advocated for the hull boys. but it would be wrong to say this proves he did not love jace and luke, its obvious he did but perhaps like most of the westerosi society, he too prefers his blood over somebody else.

i also liked how this scene tried to show us rhaenyra pov. she may have looked ahypocritical because her own heir is a bastard »moreover both addam and alyn have proven their loyalty« but whats to be noted is that she did not deny corlys request, just asked to defer it because of her own precarious position which it is but unfortunately corlys is equally desperate after the loss of high tide in the gullet. the war is not over yet, addam may die any time looking for vhagar and sheepstealer, likewise for alyn who is commanding the navy so corlys does not want to waste time. the boys lived as bastards he does not want them to die as bastards too.