Aegon II's lawyer

I have a bit of a different take on that scene. While I can't speak to the writers' intent, I disagree with the notion that Aegon was "finally" put in his place and told some hard truths he'd never been told before. In fact, we've seen Aegon put down by pretty much every significant person in his life since season one. Every time Aegon starts trying a bit too hard, the authority figures in his life come along to demolish his self worth and remind him that he's actually pretty worthless, and every time it happens the audience goes, "finally someone told Aegon he sucks! He needed to hear that!" as if Aegon hasn't been fed a steady diet of put downs every single season, often from people a lot more important to him than Larys. The idea that this is a brand new experience for Aegon is laughable. It's clearly not. We've seen it, right there on our screen. Viewers might enjoy hearing it, but that doesn't mean it's useful for Aegon as a character.

But let's back up a bit. One thing i think a lot of people are missing about Larys and Aegon is that at this point, as of E5, Larys does not want or need Aegon to lock the fuck in. Larys wants Aegon to go along with his plan, which is not to restore Aegon as king as quickly as possible or even to take him to his allies to join in the war effort, but rather to take him to Essos to ride out the war, at which point Larys will either emerge as a kingmaker, or if Rhaenyra or Aemond or Daeron win outright, he can trade Aegon's life for almost anything he wishes. It's entirely self serving. The fact that it may eventually benefit Aegon (and is just as likely to get him killed) is secondary. This this plan requires Aegon to be rather the opposite of locked in-- he needs an Aegon who feels defeated, who doubts himself, who believes everyone has died or abandoned him, and who will put his life entirely in Larys' hands and allow Larys to call all of the shots.

And so what does Larys do? He pulls an Alicent. Aegon is feeling himself a bit too much, is feeling a bit too confident? Aegon wants to decide their next move? Time to knock him down a peg. Remind him that he's shit, invalidate his pain and suffering. No matter how much someone might dislike Aegon, think for a second how insane it is to call Aegon's entirely understandable feelings about his murdered child, the third degree burns covering over half his body, his scars, disability, chronic pain, and castration whinging. The nerve! Larys has had an entire lifetime to adjust to his circumstances, Aegon has had 2 months. And Larys is himself a kinslayer, whereas Aegon was the victim of an attempted kinslaying. So while there might have been some kernel of truth in what Larys was saying, there is no tough love intent here. Larys is full of shit.

But his methods get results. In Aegon's little trauma dumping session, in which he's bitching about having to clap for Aemond at tourneys (loved the continuity error there by the way), he mentions how his father withdrew him from tourneys, he doesn't remember the reason, that doesn't matter, what he remembers is his father's lack of faith in him. And this really is Aegon's greatest childhood wound, one that actually has little to do with Aemond himself: no one ever believed in him (and from Aegon's point of view, this lack of confidence must have started as early as he can remember, when his father defied tradition and refused to name his eldest son as heir). Not his father, not his mother, not his grandfather. No one wanted to mold Aegon into a strong, confident prince, because a strong confident prince would not roll over and accept whatever plans the adults in his life were making for him. And because no one believed in him, Aegon stopped trying. And this is, I think, where the lightbulb went off for Larys, hearing this story. He needs Aegon to stop trying so hard, and his nice guy routine was having the opposite effect, Aegon was locked in. He insisted on finding Sunfyre. He wanted to kill Aemond and Rhaenyra or die trying. He was not interested in taking a boat to Essos to laze around until Larys expressed a lack of faith in him. Larys cut Aegon down so that he would stop trying, and it worked. When we see them again, Aegon says to Larys, "just book the fucking passage." He's giving up. Larys has succeeded in breaking his spirit.

But then something interesting happens. Tyland shows up. And Tyland immediately starts poking holes in Larys' plan and revealing the self serving nature of it. And Aegon is sitting nearby, seemingly dissociating, but he's also hearing these two men argue about how they can best use him. Tyland points out, rightfully so, that Aegon is the king and there are armies still willing to fight for him, that he can take him to Casterly Rock and continue the fight. Larys is saying Aegon is in no condition to fight, look he just needs to go to Essos and let daddy Larys sort everything out. And even if Tyland is a bit more correct here, he did not stop to ask Aegon what he wanted to do. Just like Alicent is trying to make decisions for Helaena back in King's Landing, Larys and Tyland are trying to make decisions for Aegon without any regard for his wishes.

And it is at this point that this man, this Janos, the guy who has made Aegon lick his shoe just an episode previous, appears and reveals that he's discovered Aegon's secret. The crown is in this guy's hands, this guy who has humiliated Aegon and made him bow down and lick his literal boots. But this time Aegon fights back. He snatches that crown for himself and he kills the man who is the source of his humiliation. It wasn't Larys' belittling speech that made Aegon find his fight again, it was Aegon waking up and deciding he wasn't going to be used. He's not Larys' pawn. He's not Tyland's ticket to glory. He's not going to be told what he can't do. Aegon has been told that his entire life. And so he kills Janos, and he smirks! That's not because he did some soul searching and realized Larys was right and he needed to lock in, it's because he took action of his own volition and regained a sense of agency that had been stripped from him.

This episode overall dealt heavily with the idea of control and autonomy. Helaena choosing to keep her baby. Criston choosing death on his own terms. Gwayne choosing life. Alicent trying to control Helaena and failing. Rhaenyra trying to control her image among her subjects, and failing. Aemond ceding control, for perhaps the first time in his life. Larys trying to control Aegon, seemingly succeeding, and then failing. Aegon, who never felt like he had any choice in his life, who was pressed into a marriage he didn't want, onto a throne he never asked for, who was told "you're most useful when you're doing nothing at all," is finally taking control of his own life. Maybe not once and for all, but it's a step in that direction.

This episode is where we see the birth of an Aegon who stops chasing praise from people who do not care about him beyond his political utility. Is there some sincerity or truth in what Larys says? Sure. But it's also beside the point because Larys' goal is to manipulate him. Aegon isn't finally getting put in his place, he's realizing that none of this criticism has come from a place of care and concern. Criticism only matters if it comes from people who actually want you to succeed, and the same goes for validation.

Hmm let me read y'all an excerpt of Fire and Blood

'Aegon II commissioned two huge statues of his brothers Aemond and Daeron in gold, and near the end, he would whisper his brother's name into empty halls."

(Aegon version)

Daemon almost killed Alicent's brother at the tourney, (he was much younger than him). Gwayne was so badly wounded that even the maester had to personally visit Otto and warn him that his son will live.

Otto and Daemon's relationship has always been tense. Daemon allows himself to insult the memory of Otto's dead wife, in front of EVERYONE at the council.. And I remind you, mother's death is the same trauma for Alicent as for everyone's beloved Rhaenyra whom everyone loves to justify her behavior with the death of her mother. But no one talks about Alicent, even tho she also lost her mother. Alicent loved her very much and she still misses her, praying every day at the sept. Do you think she doesn't know what kind of relationship her father has with Daemon? She knows what a terrible person Daemon is, what frightening violence he is capable of, but she is silent and smiles because he is a prince, he is the brother of the king, and uncle of her best friend. She always has to be silent, polite and patient, just like her father.

Imagine what Alicent felt when she found out that Rhaenyra had slept with a man like Daemon? Betrayal. No, it's not just envy that her "friend" has privileges, it'sdisappointment. To make matters worse, Rhaenyra lied to Alicent, she SWEARS BY HER MOTHER'S GRAVE AND DEATH that she IS TELLING THE TRUTH. Mother. Little Alicent values her words, she values the memory of her mother, she is still grieving, and she believes Rhaenyra.

She even refuses to believe her own father, the closest and dearest person in her life. And for what? Eventually she becomes the reason why her father is kicked out of the Red Keep in disgrace, depriving the status of the king's right hand. She defended Rhaenyra's honor, she justified her, and was left absolutely alone again. No mother, no father.

She feels the bitterness and pain of loneliness in the court, and then this feeling doubles because what she did turns out to be a huge mistake. Her best friend is a liar. From Alicent's perspective, her best friend hooked up with a man who had been at enmity with her father all her life, almost killed her brother, and after Rhaenyra smiles at her as if nothing had happened, and shamelessly scatters words, the consequence of which is the departure of her father.

Alicent having sex with one person as a widow has people blasting her as a whore, both in the story and in fanon people treat her having sex like it’s a character flaw and she’s portrayed as responsible for blood and cheese because she dared to have a romantic relationship.

on the flip side Rhaenyra having an affair with Harwin is treated as something noble and respectable, her having sex with Daemon the night of his wife’s funeral is seen as loving and no one puts the blame on her shoulders for the eye incident because she dared to have sex.

He was always whining about how he didn’t have a son. Okay, I get it he was a king and he needed an heir. But when Aegon was born, he still didn’t change his mind, all because he felt guilty about the wife he sacrificed himself. Even though he witnessed himself how they refused Rhaenys a woman and named him as heir, he seriously thought that they would have just accepted Rhaenyra just because he said so?

And Let’s be real here he didn’t exactly choose Rhaenyra he rejected Daemon. And then she goes and marries her uncle the man Viserys didn’t want on the throne, which was the whole reason she was named heir in the first place

On top of that, Rhaenyra produces bastards. And I really don’t get this argument that, Oh, Rhaenyra had no choice because Laenor was gay. Before marrying him, she had every opportunity to choose whoever she wanted, but she refused.