Lua Cor-de-Rosa

We don't actually know much at all about Lyonel's family life in canon, beyond that he had an unmarried daughter in 237 who was of an age to be betrothed to Egg's son Duncan. (I maintain to this day that King Duncan Targaryen, the First of His Name would make a hilarious contrast with literally all other Targaryen names.) The show went for the oldest possible estimate of Lyonel's age - in the book, he could be anything from 16-35, and it's entirely possible that that hastilude Baelor remembers attending at Storm's End was for Lyonel's own birth. In the show, though, we go for him as- probably somewhere in his mid-to-late thirties. (Sidenote: Baelor's own age is more ambiguous in the show, but his being described as 'still young' in a Westerosi context inclines me to believe he's nearer his book counterpart's age of 39 than his actor's 48, as the latter would not be considered 'still young' in Westeros. My guess is he just looks older because Hands of the King age like US presidents.) Lyonel is explicitly the heir to Storm's End, so in a show context, either that grandson who the hastilude was held for is his son, or he wasn't the heir then but his elder brother and any children that brother had have since died. And, to be fair, we have no idea whether or not Lyonel is married at the time of the Ashford tourney...although it doesn't look like he is.

For this, I'm going to work on the assumption that Lyonel is widowed by the time of Ashford, and that that hastilude was held for the birth of his firstborn son, who died either in infancy or in early childhood (as Lyonel's heir Ormund was unmarried and apparently childless by the time of his rebellion, which would be unusual for a Westerosi heir who would by then be in his forties, I'm going to assume that Lyonel later remarried and had a surviving son and also the daughter whose broken betrothal the rebellion was over in later life.) This means I can easily slot Lex in here, as that child, who in this continuity survived infancy and would be roughly sixteen years old at the time of the Ashford tourney - just the right sort of age to be making his first appearance in the lists, if he were so inclined. (And- honestly, I expect he'd at least try it out - in canon, Lex is a fencer and has played polo in the past/is clearly at least somewhat horsey, so I could see him getting into sword-fighting and jousting now that they're expected of him. Particularly as New Dad, who actually seems to love him and want him around, is also into those things and would probably want to teach Lex himself.) Although I could also see Lex being one of those young lords who forge a few links of a maester's chain without ever intending to finish one. (Being a maester does rather appeal...but only if he got to be an Archmaester in Oldtown and not just a castle maester, and as Lyonel's only son and heir that isn't really plausible anyway.) If he is at Ashford, though, that probably changes a few things - for one, Dunk probably gets his full complement of seven before Baelor shows up with Lex there to fill in the numbers either because his father asked or because he too thinks Dunk is a decent sort who doesn't deserve this, although I suspect Baelor still joins the team, probably by subbing in for Ser Humfrey Hardyng with his broken leg...which means he probably still dies, as Maekar appears to have gone straight for him, probably because he realised that Baelor would try and play human shield for his teammates with the Kingsguard (thus removing the two most dangerous non-Maekar combatants from the field, as Aerion appears...decent, but not world-beating, Ser Steffon is easily beaten up by his own ex-squire, and Daeron falls off his horse right away on purpose).

AGREED on the hair. Lex is taking FULL advantage of not being meteor-exposed and thus having hair. He got teased his whole life for being 'the bald kid' and he is NOT doing that again. The only issue is that the meteor healing may or may not have come with him too- it and the baldness do seem to be connected. Although I do like the idea of Lex being the oldest man in Westeros and still a political force to be reckoned with, ten years on Walder Frey and MUCH pleasanter to be around (although the bar is not high).

But also- it occurs to me that- okay, if Lex is 16 for Ashford and has been at the Citadel for a few years, he might not know Egg from King's Landing, but he might well know/be friendly with Aemon Targaryen, Egg's older brother, who is 11-14 at this point, so anywhere from a couple years younger than Lex to five years younger and might plausibly have been taken under Lex's wing a bit when he arrived at the Citadel just because Lex knows what it's like to be marked out among one's peers. So I could well see Lex knowing Egg already. I could also absolutely see Lex getting involved at the puppet show before Dunk turns up if he happened to be there already, just because- at least in the first three seasons, he does get involved in situations like this to help people. He probably doesn't achieve much, being a few years younger than Aerion and Aerion having guards with him, but if it's a random hedge knight and the heir to the heir of Storm's End being tried, that might make a few changes to how the Trial at Ashford plays out too. It might butterfly away the whole trial of seven situation entirely, because nobody wants to piss off the Baratheons right now, but even if it still happens, the grand-heir to Storm's End being on trial too changes the calculus for getting people to fight on their side. (Might also lead to Dunk getting swept up a bit with the Baratheons before Baelor gets a look in, which I'm sure would delight Lyonel.)

Now, onto the rebellion and marriages- I mean, first of all, one has to sort of consider a few things. First of all - what is Lyonel's sexuality, and how inclined would he be to remarry/have more children if Lex survives infancy? We don't really get a clear answer on this in the show, beyond that he is certainly into men, so- could be gay, could be bi, you have carte blanche there, but it's entirely possible that Lyonel just- doesn't remarry, and thus there's no Targ betrothal because there's no Baratheon daughter of the right age by the time Egg is betrothing his children around the Seven Kingdoms. Alternatively, Lyonel could remarry, have Ormund and his unnamed daughter, and that also butterflies things off in a whole 'nother direction, because an Ormund who's a second son is a much less desirable marriage alliance for a Targaryen bride.

Similarly, Lex and Rhaelle...is possible, but Lex would be in his forties by the time she's of an age to be betrothed to anyone, so it would be more probable that he's already got married to somebody else and has heirs already. Particularly given- it's Lex, he was married twice before he was twenty-five in the twenty-first century, never mind a medieval world where people marry younger on average. That said, if Lex is 16 at Ashford, assuming another decade or so before he marries, there is a very plausible match there with one of Egg's sisters, thus preserving the Baratheon-Targaryen connection. A 26-year-old Lex having a dynastic marriage to 20-year-old Daella Targaryen or 18-year-old Rhae Targaryen would work very well timeline-wise.

I do agree that Lex would be very determined to keep his family together now he has one worth having. Actually- if he's Lord Paramount well into his- okay, assuming he's sixteen at Ashford, Lex would be a hundred and five years old at the start of A Game of Thrones. That's- a very ripe old age, but if he's got his meteor-enhanced healing somehow, that's not outside the realm of possibility. Which means that the Stormlands has been under the rule of one man for- yeah, a whole 84 years! Eighty-four years of- probably a lot of political reform and economic development, because no way Lex isn't engaging in some early-modern state-building. This may, in and of itself, lead to a vastly different political situation at the start of Robert's Rebellion, because small reforms over time add up, and once new ideas appear in one area, it isn't long before they start being implemented by other people, so Westeros may have been dragged fully into the early modern period in a way it hasn't, quite, in canon. That in itself changes a lot, because- listen. Listen. The reason Littlefinger gets away with so much shit is that nobody in Westeros has much understanding of finance as it's emerging over in Essos. If the Stormlands has something like the early Tudor state emerging, that is not going to be the case anymore, and that changes literally everything to do with that little fucker.

Also- another massive thing that Lex still being around, if extremely elderly, and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands means is that a massive bone of contention between Stannis and Robert is just gone, because suddenly, Robert can't give away Storm's End to Renly! Because that is Granddad's castle, he's still living in it, and Robert can't do anything with it until after Lex dies. Might still give Stannis Dragonstone, but that comes off as much less of a slight and much more of an honour when he's not giving Storm's End away to a literal child. For that matter, Lex is also likely to be the final authority during the Siege of Storm's End, if it still happens, which- might have interesting knock-on effects. And- would Robert even be sent away to foster? Maybe, if Steffon wanted him to be, but it's not certain. If not, that might also butterfly away some other things. (And don't even get me started on what happens if Ormund exists as Lex's younger brother, gets the Rhaelle match...somehow...and suddenly Robert, Stannis and Renly are the children of a younger son, in a far less dynastically powerful position.)

Or- hell, if you were really ambitious and wanted to do it, Lex having his Valyrian steel link and a fascination with the supernatural could well get him involved in the events at Summerhall, or even prevent them entirely, depending on what his relationship to Egg is. (I could see him as a potential Master of Coin or even Hand of the King, if he played his cards right.)

Added to which, being involved with Summerhall in any capacity, even if he survives it, even if he survives it relatively unharmed, is- probably going to do a lot of damage to Lex's political career in this universe, just because in any continuity where that doesn't result in the return of the dragons, it was just- such a complete clusterfuck. Like- I could absolutely see Jaehaerys II blaming Lex for the whole mess, since everyone else who could plausibly be blamed is now dead, and stripping him of the Handship over it. Can't strip him of Lord Paramountcy, but I suspect Lex goes back to the Stormlands for most of those two reigns and just gets on with continuing his Prussian-style reforms of the local administration.

With Robert- a lot depends on how close that relationship actually is. Like- assuming Robert still gets sent off to the Eyrie because that seems to have been Steffon's idea, Jon Arryn is going to have a much bigger role in his upbringing. Lex is liable to be much more of a defining influence for Stannis and Renly, the two who remained with him at Storm's End, so he might squeak out of the Handship. On the other hand, I could see Robert handing him Master of Coin just because it's his other big thing, and Lex just living and living and living works just as well to stymie Littlefinger there, too. And honestly, even if not...the fact that Lex has likely established a much more early modern civil service in the Stormlands, which will almost certainly have been copied by their neighbours in the Reach when it becomes clear it's effective, means that there are probably a lot more administrators about who can figure out what Littlefinger is doing with his canonical embezzlement schemes. Particularly as Littlefinger's biggest political weakness is his need to always feel like the smartest person in the room.

As for Rhaella and Aerys- sadly, they were already married pre-Summerhall - the pretext for that gathering was to celebrate the birth of baby Rhaegar. Things may not have been AS bad then, but their marriage was still arranged against their will by their father, then-Prince Jaehaerys. And- honestly, given Egg's efforts to avoid incestuous matches among his own children (stymied by Jaehaerys and his sister Shaera deciding to elope), I can't imagine he was particularly happy about that arrangement either, but either wasn't able to or for some reason didn't put his foot down about it. So, Vis and Dany are still liable to come about, and the Rebellion is still probably going to happen.

Elia and her children- the thing is, Tywin Lannister wasn't doing that out of cold calculation or necessity. He was, at least in part, doing it to get back at Elia for marrying Rhaegar when Cersei was passed over, because Tywin is a lot pettier and more emotionally-driven than he seems. Honestly, I suspect Lex meets Tywin and just- despises him on sight, because there is...a certain resemblance to Lionel Luthor there that is just going to set off all his alarm bells. So, he's going to oppose the Lannister match probably on principle, but- there really aren't that many good alternative options to be Queen? Maybe Janna Tyrell or one of the Hightower ladies, but- literally all of those families sided with the crown, and politically it's poor judgement to reward one's defeated foes more highly than one's allies. And while Lex might well agitate for some punishment for the Lannisters' actions during the Sack of King's Landing (I could see war crimes legislation as one of those reforms he and Egg tried to get through, back in the day), Robert...is strong-willed, rather morally lazy, and barely thinks of the Targaryens as human by this point. I suspect that the likeliest outcome is an absolute blazing row and the King and his grandfather just not talking to each other for some years.

Lex and Olenna- would make an interesting dynamic, I agree, but there is the slight issue of Lex being a generation or two ahead of her. Then again, none of his own generation are going to still be around, so...close enough. As for Jon- I suspect he doesn't go to the Wall, at least not as early, without Ned going south, given that that was motivated so much by Cat not wanting him in her house without Ned there. As for Lex working that out- I feel like that's- the thing is, Lex likes hard proof. He can deduce that Clark has superpowers early on, but he keeps holding out for hard evidence because Lex, fundamentally, does not trust his own judgement/perception and needs to be absolutely sure. And in this case- I really doubt he'd know Ned well enough to know what an obvious lie that one was.

We don't actually know much at all about Lyonel's family life in canon, beyond that he had an unmarried daughter in 237 who was of an age to be betrothed to Egg's son Duncan. (I maintain to this day that King Duncan Targaryen, the First of His Name would make a hilarious contrast with literally all other Targaryen names.) The show went for the oldest possible estimate of Lyonel's age - in the book, he could be anything from 16-35, and it's entirely possible that that hastilude Baelor remembers attending at Storm's End was for Lyonel's own birth. In the show, though, we go for him as- probably somewhere in his mid-to-late thirties. (Sidenote: Baelor's own age is more ambiguous in the show, but his being described as 'still young' in a Westerosi context inclines me to believe he's nearer his book counterpart's age of 39 than his actor's 48, as the latter would not be considered 'still young' in Westeros. My guess is he just looks older because Hands of the King age like US presidents.) Lyonel is explicitly the heir to Storm's End, so in a show context, either that grandson who the hastilude was held for is his son, or he wasn't the heir then but his elder brother and any children that brother had have since died. And, to be fair, we have no idea whether or not Lyonel is married at the time of the Ashford tourney...although it doesn't look like he is.

For this, I'm going to work on the assumption that Lyonel is widowed by the time of Ashford, and that that hastilude was held for the birth of his firstborn son, who died either in infancy or in early childhood (as Lyonel's heir Ormund was unmarried and apparently childless by the time of his rebellion, which would be unusual for a Westerosi heir who would by then be in his forties, I'm going to assume that Lyonel later remarried and had a surviving son and also the daughter whose broken betrothal the rebellion was over in later life.) This means I can easily slot Lex in here, as that child, who in this continuity survived infancy and would be roughly sixteen years old at the time of the Ashford tourney - just the right sort of age to be making his first appearance in the lists, if he were so inclined. (And- honestly, I expect he'd at least try it out - in canon, Lex is a fencer and has played polo in the past/is clearly at least somewhat horsey, so I could see him getting into sword-fighting and jousting now that they're expected of him. Particularly as New Dad, who actually seems to love him and want him around, is also into those things and would probably want to teach Lex himself.) Although I could also see Lex being one of those young lords who forge a few links of a maester's chain without ever intending to finish one. (Being a maester does rather appeal...but only if he got to be an Archmaester in Oldtown and not just a castle maester, and as Lyonel's only son and heir that isn't really plausible anyway.) If he is at Ashford, though, that probably changes a few things - for one, Dunk probably gets his full complement of seven before Baelor shows up with Lex there to fill in the numbers either because his father asked or because he too thinks Dunk is a decent sort who doesn't deserve this, although I suspect Baelor still joins the team, probably by subbing in for Ser Humfrey Hardyng with his broken leg...which means he probably still dies, as Maekar appears to have gone straight for him, probably because he realised that Baelor would try and play human shield for his teammates with the Kingsguard (thus removing the two most dangerous non-Maekar combatants from the field, as Aerion appears...decent, but not world-beating, Ser Steffon is easily beaten up by his own ex-squire, and Daeron falls off his horse right away on purpose).

AGREED on the hair. Lex is taking FULL advantage of not being meteor-exposed and thus having hair. He got teased his whole life for being 'the bald kid' and he is NOT doing that again. The only issue is that the meteor healing may or may not have come with him too- it and the baldness do seem to be connected. Although I do like the idea of Lex being the oldest man in Westeros and still a political force to be reckoned with, ten years on Walder Frey and MUCH pleasanter to be around (although the bar is not high).

But also- it occurs to me that- okay, if Lex is 16 for Ashford and has been at the Citadel for a few years, he might not know Egg from King's Landing, but he might well know/be friendly with Aemon Targaryen, Egg's older brother, who is 11-14 at this point, so anywhere from a couple years younger than Lex to five years younger and might plausibly have been taken under Lex's wing a bit when he arrived at the Citadel just because Lex knows what it's like to be marked out among one's peers. So I could well see Lex knowing Egg already. I could also absolutely see Lex getting involved at the puppet show before Dunk turns up if he happened to be there already, just because- at least in the first three seasons, he does get involved in situations like this to help people. He probably doesn't achieve much, being a few years younger than Aerion and Aerion having guards with him, but if it's a random hedge knight and the heir to the heir of Storm's End being tried, that might make a few changes to how the Trial at Ashford plays out too. It might butterfly away the whole trial of seven situation entirely, because nobody wants to piss off the Baratheons right now, but even if it still happens, the grand-heir to Storm's End being on trial too changes the calculus for getting people to fight on their side. (Might also lead to Dunk getting swept up a bit with the Baratheons before Baelor gets a look in, which I'm sure would delight Lyonel.)

Now, onto the rebellion and marriages- I mean, first of all, one has to sort of consider a few things. First of all - what is Lyonel's sexuality, and how inclined would he be to remarry/have more children if Lex survives infancy? We don't really get a clear answer on this in the show, beyond that he is certainly into men, so- could be gay, could be bi, you have carte blanche there, but it's entirely possible that Lyonel just- doesn't remarry, and thus there's no Targ betrothal because there's no Baratheon daughter of the right age by the time Egg is betrothing his children around the Seven Kingdoms. Alternatively, Lyonel could remarry, have Ormund and his unnamed daughter, and that also butterflies things off in a whole 'nother direction, because an Ormund who's a second son is a much less desirable marriage alliance for a Targaryen bride.

Similarly, Lex and Rhaelle...is possible, but Lex would be in his forties by the time she's of an age to be betrothed to anyone, so it would be more probable that he's already got married to somebody else and has heirs already. Particularly given- it's Lex, he was married twice before he was twenty-five in the twenty-first century, never mind a medieval world where people marry younger on average. That said, if Lex is 16 at Ashford, assuming another decade or so before he marries, there is a very plausible match there with one of Egg's sisters, thus preserving the Baratheon-Targaryen connection. A 26-year-old Lex having a dynastic marriage to 20-year-old Daella Targaryen or 18-year-old Rhae Targaryen would work very well timeline-wise.

I do agree that Lex would be very determined to keep his family together now he has one worth having. Actually- if he's Lord Paramount well into his- okay, assuming he's sixteen at Ashford, Lex would be a hundred and five years old at the start of A Game of Thrones. That's- a very ripe old age, but if he's got his meteor-enhanced healing somehow, that's not outside the realm of possibility. Which means that the Stormlands has been under the rule of one man for- yeah, a whole 84 years! Eighty-four years of- probably a lot of political reform and economic development, because no way Lex isn't engaging in some early-modern state-building. This may, in and of itself, lead to a vastly different political situation at the start of Robert's Rebellion, because small reforms over time add up, and once new ideas appear in one area, it isn't long before they start being implemented by other people, so Westeros may have been dragged fully into the early modern period in a way it hasn't, quite, in canon. That in itself changes a lot, because- listen. Listen. The reason Littlefinger gets away with so much shit is that nobody in Westeros has much understanding of finance as it's emerging over in Essos. If the Stormlands has something like the early Tudor state emerging, that is not going to be the case anymore, and that changes literally everything to do with that little fucker.

Also- another massive thing that Lex still being around, if extremely elderly, and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands means is that a massive bone of contention between Stannis and Robert is just gone, because suddenly, Robert can't give away Storm's End to Renly! Because that is Granddad's castle, he's still living in it, and Robert can't do anything with it until after Lex dies. Might still give Stannis Dragonstone, but that comes off as much less of a slight and much more of an honour when he's not giving Storm's End away to a literal child. For that matter, Lex is also likely to be the final authority during the Siege of Storm's End, if it still happens, which- might have interesting knock-on effects. And- would Robert even be sent away to foster? Maybe, if Steffon wanted him to be, but it's not certain. If not, that might also butterfly away some other things. (And don't even get me started on what happens if Ormund exists as Lex's younger brother, gets the Rhaelle match...somehow...and suddenly Robert, Stannis and Renly are the children of a younger son, in a far less dynastically powerful position.)

Or- hell, if you were really ambitious and wanted to do it, Lex having his Valyrian steel link and a fascination with the supernatural could well get him involved in the events at Summerhall, or even prevent them entirely, depending on what his relationship to Egg is. (I could see him as a potential Master of Coin or even Hand of the King, if he played his cards right.)

We don't actually know much at all about Lyonel's family life in canon, beyond that he had an unmarried daughter in 237 who was of an age to be betrothed to Egg's son Duncan. (I maintain to this day that King Duncan Targaryen, the First of His Name would make a hilarious contrast with literally all other Targaryen names.) The show went for the oldest possible estimate of Lyonel's age - in the book, he could be anything from 16-35, and it's entirely possible that that hastilude Baelor remembers attending at Storm's End was for Lyonel's own birth. In the show, though, we go for him as- probably somewhere in his mid-to-late thirties. (Sidenote: Baelor's own age is more ambiguous in the show, but his being described as 'still young' in a Westerosi context inclines me to believe he's nearer his book counterpart's age of 39 than his actor's 48, as the latter would not be considered 'still young' in Westeros. My guess is he just looks older because Hands of the King age like US presidents.) Lyonel is explicitly the heir to Storm's End, so in a show context, either that grandson who the hastilude was held for is his son, or he wasn't the heir then but his elder brother and any children that brother had have since died. And, to be fair, we have no idea whether or not Lyonel is married at the time of the Ashford tourney...although it doesn't look like he is.

For this, I'm going to work on the assumption that Lyonel is widowed by the time of Ashford, and that that hastilude was held for the birth of his firstborn son, who died either in infancy or in early childhood (as Lyonel's heir Ormund was unmarried and apparently childless by the time of his rebellion, which would be unusual for a Westerosi heir who would by then be in his forties, I'm going to assume that Lyonel later remarried and had a surviving son and also the daughter whose broken betrothal the rebellion was over in later life.) This means I can easily slot Lex in here, as that child, who in this continuity survived infancy and would be roughly sixteen years old at the time of the Ashford tourney - just the right sort of age to be making his first appearance in the lists, if he were so inclined. (And- honestly, I expect he'd at least try it out - in canon, Lex is a fencer and has played polo in the past/is clearly at least somewhat horsey, so I could see him getting into sword-fighting and jousting now that they're expected of him. Particularly as New Dad, who actually seems to love him and want him around, is also into those things and would probably want to teach Lex himself.) Although I could also see Lex being one of those young lords who forge a few links of a maester's chain without ever intending to finish one. (Being a maester does rather appeal...but only if he got to be an Archmaester in Oldtown and not just a castle maester, and as Lyonel's only son and heir that isn't really plausible anyway.) If he is at Ashford, though, that probably changes a few things - for one, Dunk probably gets his full complement of seven before Baelor shows up with Lex there to fill in the numbers either because his father asked or because he too thinks Dunk is a decent sort who doesn't deserve this, although I suspect Baelor still joins the team, probably by subbing in for Ser Humfrey Hardyng with his broken leg...which means he probably still dies, as Maekar appears to have gone straight for him, probably because he realised that Baelor would try and play human shield for his teammates with the Kingsguard (thus removing the two most dangerous non-Maekar combatants from the field, as Aerion appears...decent, but not world-beating, Ser Steffon is easily beaten up by his own ex-squire, and Daeron falls off his horse right away on purpose).