I genuinely think people who hate the smallfolk for attacking unhinged Aerion, or who drag my baby Fossoway for telling the truth about the Targaryens being tyrants should stop watching the show. This story is explicitly about the smallfolk. It’s a lowborn POV on purpose. Aerion is a walking example of why the smallfolk snapping is not only understandable but inevitable. He abuses them and threatens them. If someone comes out of AKOTSK hating the smallfolk, they genuinely need to stop and rethink what they just read or watched because that’s a fundamental misread of the story.
The smallfolk aren’t a background mob this time they’re the moral barometer. Their fear, anger, and desperation are responses to noble violence, not some random cruelty. Aerion isn’t a “tragic misunderstood prince” he’s an example of exactly why unchecked nobility is dangerous. The fact that the smallfolk turn on him isn’t savagery it’s consequence.
Dunk & Egg shows us a world where nobility is already morally hollow where common people are crushed under the consequences of decisions made by dragonlords long dead. Dunk exists to show how unjust that system is from the ground up. Egg grows up with the smallfolk watching this and realizes that kingship without justice is meaningless, which is why his reign later tries and ultimately fails to reform the system peacefully.
Baelor is crucial here too he respects the smallfolk, treats them fairly, and is willing to fight for Dunk and for truth even against his own brother. That’s the moral line GRRM wants you to see. Fire & Blood shows the cruelty of the Targaryens. Dunk & Egg shows the aftermath and the people who had to live in the wreckage. If your takeaway is “wow the peasants are awful,” you missed the point so hard you’re basically rooting for the boot that’s on their neck.
