flow ⋆˚࿔

I constantly see rhaelya shippers using the "elia’s brothers didn't blame rhaegar" argument, or claiming that if doran was actually angry, he wouldn't have made that secret marriage pact between arianne and viserys. it honestly shows a huge lack of media literacy. first of all, people completely ignore the canon context of the rebellion. doran literally refused to send dorne's full military strength to support rhaegar because of how badly elia was being treated. the only reason he sent any troops at all was because aerys was keeping elia and her kids as hostages in the red keep. secondly, using that secret marriage pact as proof of "forgiveness" makes no sense when the plan completely failed and never even happened in the end. it wasn't some sentimental nod to the targaryens; it was just a desperate, poorly thought-out political move from a man who is clearly traumatized, depressed, and haunted by his sister's brutal murder. but even past that, why on earth would elia’s brothers be constantly talking about a man who died 15 years ago? by this logic, does ned stark not blame aerys for murdering his father and brother just because he doesn't mention him all the time? does dany not blame robert just because she doesn't obsess over him post-death? trauma and political pragmatism in george's writing are never that shallow. elia’s family doesn’t need to dedicate their dialogue to rhaegar for his actions to have weight. rhaegar was the catalyst for the tragedy, but doran’s obsession now isn't with the man who died at the trident—it's with the consequences of his actions and the downfall of the regime that allowed it. silence isn't forgiveness, and refusing to constantly bring up a dead prince doesn't erase the fact that dorne's current political trajectory was entirely shaped by his betrayal of elia. it's just basic literary analysis.