divorce enthusiast

but what does this have to do with aegor? idk, it could be nothing really. we don't have f&b ii and the lore that does exist rarely (but fascinatingly!) never ever remarks on aegor and daemon's relationship prior to aegor's supposed manipulation of daemon. but i bring all of it up to highlight that daemon, given his narrative parallels with aemon and rhaegar, was the one with the greater power and influence in general, but specifically probably would have been the one with greater power and influence over his brother. as far as the rebellion itself goes, i think it's much more believable that daemon and aegor enabled one another in terms of instigating a war against daeron, rather than aegor manipulating daemon into it – but this isn't about the rebellion really. this is about the fact that, given all the current information we have at hand, aegor seems to have had very few loving relationships in his life prior to his return to court, presumably when he was a teenager. of the great bastards, he's the only one who was directly cast out by his father and daeron, and the only one who had any cause to believe he was specifically unwanted by his father. particularly after aegon's visits resulted in him stealing bethany away, rather than providing anything like emotional care or tenderness to his literal son.

and while i don't believe that aegor was QUITE as unlikable as the lore makes him out to be – otherwise how would he have been able to form an organized sellsword group as dedicated and focused as the golden company? – i do buy that he wasn't really the most pleasant person to be around, maybe especially as a child. he had more or less every reason to live up to his eventual moniker. i think knowing on the one hand that he was descended from princes and kings, and on the other that the literal crown prince and eventual king didn't want him as a son, would mess with any child's head and would quite possibly make them pretty un-fun for other children to be around. in short: if you scrape together what few facts we have, aegor's childhood seems like it must have been pretty sad and isolated.

and i just think that being the blisteringly lonely, specifically-discarded, deeply wounded, but-still-kind-of-famous bastard of the reigning king might make a person very emotionally vulnerable and susceptible to....literally anyone who might be kind to him or treat him like he's special. daemon and aegor only have ~2 year age difference, and they probably met around the time aegor was 12 and daemon was 14, so i don't know that "grooming" is entirely the right word to use for however their relationship began or proceeded. for this whole headcanon to work, you sort of have to assume daemon tried to befriend aegor just because being friendly was in his nature, not because he necessarily set out to prey on aegor's insecurities. but i can certainly believe that he held quite a lot of sway over aegor, especially if daemon really was as charismatic, hot, and socially savvy as they say.

i just think that, on top of this, daemon probably wasn't stupid. if he charmed his brother at any point, and if his friendliness and affection seemed to produce some kind of disproportionately intense attachment on aegor's behalf, i think it's not absurd to assume that daemon was aware of it. and that he may have encouraged or enabled it. why? idk. more than once the lore talks about how daemon entertained people flattering him for the sake of his own ego. it seems kind of like the ultimate ego trip to have a best friend/brother/really weirdly emotionally intense #comrade who is willing to defend you to the death.

am i saying he literally brainwashed aegor into being his willing little minion or something? no. the last time i wrote a not-at-all-asked-for stupid essay about bittersteel, i said i fully believe he would have rebelled against the crown all on his own. i still think that's the case. 'a lifelong career hater' seems like his true calling with or without daemon. but i also think that his intense fixation on preserving the integrity of daemon's line and his disavowing the opportunity to name himself the rightful heir to the blackfyre house or claimant to the throne really suggests a lot about how he viewed himself and his role in his relationship to daemon. sure, he may have simply chosen to make himself out to be the perfectly honed weapon of daemon's will for the love of the game, but i think it's more interesting, emotionally complex, and frankly hotter, to grapple with the fact that daemon may have had a significant influence on how aegor conceived of their relationship. and that this influence at least partly resulted in aegor seeking to prove himself worthy of daemon's affection via the only means he had at hand: martial prowess.

i say all this while also choosing to believe that daemon did sincerely love aegor! for me at least, this kind of emotional ..... mm. opportunism? for lack of a better word, is more interesting if it's couched in sincere affection and care, and even the possibility that daemon either didn't always stop to consider the effect he was having on aegor or that he believe he was doing something either kind to aegor or within his rights to demand from aegor as an older brother and possible first-friend-aegor-ever-had. but also that he knew he was likely the one reaping the greater benefit from it. ig what i'm saying is: what makes it compelling is that it's all of the above, given the nature of both parties' needs and desires and the context in which they met, on top of the greater context from which they were quite literally born.