I Dreamed Of You

Because Baelor objectively is a good man, better than his brother. But he still sat by and allowed toxicity to fester within his family. Baelor standing against Aerion and his own brother to fight for Dunk wasn't just him doing the right thing, it was also him coming to terms with the fact that a legacy he had probably held on to so strongly before all of this, was crumbling. The right thing to do, would have been side with Dunk to begin with and bring his concerns to Maekar, regarding Aerion being a loose canon. The right thing to do, would have been to reprimand Aerion far before it got as far as it did, whilst punishing Maekar for allowing his son's awful actions to fester and go unchecked.

While Baelor was kind to and empathized with Dunk, even to the point of being extremely cold and sharp toward Egg (which I like--because it shows us that he is capable of being cruel and cut throat), he still did not overly praise what Dunk did in the moment. He did not commend Dunk for striking Aerion, nor did he excuse he. He simply said, 'I might have done what you did, but I'm a prince'. There are so many ways to interpret that, but none of them overly excused or ignored what Egg did, nor did they put any accountability on Aerion. Infact, Baelor validated Aerion; he validated his anger, he validated the fact that what Tanselle did could be seen as treason against House Targaryen.

Even when Aerion requested a trial of the 7 (and both Maekar and Dunk were equally confused and both actively crashing out in unison), instead of denying him that or even trying to argue with him, he allowed him to trial without any consequence, knowing that it would be a disadvantage to Dunk. And by that I mean, he hardly stood up for him, outside of giving Dunk and his brother a history lesson, he gave Aerion what he wanted. And of course, that is the law, but Baelor never put up very hard opposition against his nephews desires.

This is not at all to say that, he didn't stick his neck out for Dunk because he did, immensely. This was seen by the fact that he did not blame Dunk at all, for any of this. He blamed Egg for it. This also isn't excusing the fact that he gave his life for Dunk, because he did. But joining the fight against his family, IMO, is the result of Baelor realizing that there needs to be a change. That he has been enabling his brother and his brother's son for too long that it has come to this; the Targs have not only lost their way but are falling back into the travesty that was Aegon the Unworthy. Baelor doesn't want a repeat of that, but he sees that by his lack luster actions, that is going to happen. He knows that as much as his brother grumps about his children, he is an inactive/bad father. He will threaten and hit Aerion, but he will stand by him. He too is an enabler; if none of them stood up to Aerion, then their legacy would repeat itself.

Similar to how I mentioned that Egg and Dunk are Maekar's redemption, Dunk is also Baelor's redemption. Dunk is a reflection of everything that a knight and a good man is to Baelor, and being lost in castles, in Summerhall, in Dragonstone, around elites, nobles, royals, etc., Baelor had forgotten that simply because he didn't have to confront that until he saw Dunk vs Aerion. And it was no longer something he could ignore; there was a terror brewing within the household of his brother, whcih inevitably would impact his legacy and threaten his life.

So Baelor is a very good man imo. He is not your typical Targ man, and it's foolish to act like he is a man with ulterior motives. But I actually like this idea that he deals with internal struggles more than the thought of him being a very basic, black and white person. While he was not actively torturing people like Aerion, he allowed it to fester by not condoning his brother's lack of parenting. And of course people are probably wondering 'why is it his problem', not only is he going to be king, but what one unruly prince does, impacts everyone. And it would be absolute hell for Baelor to be king while his nephew who thinks he is a dragon and a true targ is living and breathing. They would've eventually had to kill Aerion I kid you not.

it’s hard to say for sure which event will be chosen as the stopping point, but at this time i’m (tentatively) choosing aegon iii and jaehaera’s wedding.

Option 1: They do it anyway, and hope nobody cares. There doesn’t need to be too much of an age increase. The actors they used in season 2 will probably be old enough by the time of filming, and if they recast they can always recast someone slightly older. I think 6 or so would be enough. Stormcloud would need to be bigger too, but again you can probably do that and just let the inconsistency stand (my ideal option, though I unfortunately don’t think they will go this route).

Option 2: Another, more likely one, is rewriting the scene to remove Aegon’s agency. Instead of him escaping on Stormcloud, he may be rescued by the Dragonseeds. This should be an easy enough rewrite, and you can still have Viserys lost in the chaos if he and Aegon get separated. Stormcloud could die just in the general battle. Obviously I dislike this option, as it erases a very very key moment in Aegon’s book arc, a formative experience that (along with Rhaenrya’s murder) is a driving factor of his depression and trauma. Specifically his self blame and survivors guilt. It also erases one of the most heartbreaking dragon deaths. Baby Stormcloud dying will be sad no matter what, but carrying Aegon all the way back to Dragonstone while shot full of arrows because he refuses to fall until his rider is safe… you cannot top that.

Option 3: Enact some sort of delay in the Battle of the Gullet in the in universe timeline. I am not sure how this would be done. Rhaenyra is about to take kings landing, and I’m not sure it makes sense for her to still send her sons to Pentos once the city is secure. Though with the Gullet by Dragonstone, they could also be attacked when heading to Kings Landing. Perhaps they stay at another port for a while, or are called back for the Vale once word comes of Rhaenrya taking the city. Meanwhile Tyland’s ships are taking time to prepare an attack plan. Even a small ambiguity in the timeline can be used to sneak in a couple years age up. We also do need more time for Jace’s character arc to be complete, before the Gullet happens.

Option 4: Aegon’s role in the Gullet could be substituted with Joffrey, who is already old enough. However, I hate this option more than any other. It is absolutely nothing against Joffrey, but I don’t want any of Aegon III’s few moments given up to another character. It feels insulting if they clearly are willing and capable of doing the scene, and simply chose not to do it with the future king for whom the event is a cornerstone of their character. I’d rather them simply not do it at all, as in Option 2.

Honestly if they give the Battle of the Gullet plot point to Joffrey, and the Rhaenyra’s death plot point to Alicent, I think I would actually lose my mind. Like I would be done. I have a very very high tolerance of changes to the source material because I view HOTD as it’s own separate canon, but giving away the backstory of my #1 favorite Targaryen (and if I’m being totally honest, ASOIAF character, minor as he may be) to other characters will be my line. I can’t do that. One event would be bad enough, but both of them??? Nah.

And yet Maekar didn’t name a child after him…

We’ve got Daeron who is obviously named after King Daeron.

Aerion, which one could argue is after Aerys his older brother, or the man that started the conquest but Maekar doesn’t strike me as a big history buff

Aemon, which could just be a stereotypical Targ name OR could be named after Aemon the Dragonknight, his rumored grandsire

Daella, I think is also a way to honor Daeron his dad, BUT could also honor Daenerys, or could be named after Daella mother to Aemma Arryn.

Aegon, could be named after so many of the many fucking Aegon’s

Then we have little Rhae, who one could argue is named after his brother Rhaegel. Or another Rhae.