do you ever think about jae mistaking alicent as saera in his old age in the context of jae assaulting his daughters
Yes. This is part of why I don't love the nixed age gap between Rhaenyra and Alicent in the show because you lose the "Alicent reading to Jae who thinks she's his daughter Saera who he at best was really deranged towards sexually" aspect of Alicent that I find very fascinating (especially when you pair that with her initial distaste for the very normalized pedophilia shit going on at court). I believe @kingcunny has mentioned this several times in that context - Alicent essentially being set up for sexual assault during these "reading sessions" and finding some comfort with Viserys who also experienced some sexual weirdness from Jaehaerys. It's not something Aemma can relate to, because Jaehaerys was never interested in her the way he was in grooming Viserys to be his heir, and later mistaking Alicent for Saera. It's a trauma only they have experienced, feeling this sort of idolization and love for this aging old man who is not kind to them, and in fact actively helps ruin both their lives and their conception of safe sexual encounters.
Because...I just feel like there has to be something weird going on there. Why Saera of all daughters, is he mistaking Alicent for? Why not Alyssa or Daella? Why not Alysanne? Or even Rhaena? And why, when he's mistaking Alicent or Saera, do rumors of an affair start to spark? I think it's not unlikely that Alicent was sent into that room because of her beauty, maybe a superficial resemblance to Saera, and I think she knew exactly what was expected of her. The fact that it was all about Saera instead of Alysanne? I do wonder if it ever clicked in her head how odd that is, but I'd hazard a guess and say it did, and it's part of why she's so hostile to Daemon and initially so hostile to Criston Cole.
blakekathryn
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