#megette

Nine mistresses of Aegon the IV

• Falena Stokeworth

• Megette

• Cassella Vaith

• Bellegere Otherys

• Barba Bracken

• Melissa Blackwood

• Bethany Bracken

• Jeyne Lothston

Megette

Alyssa Sutherland as Falena Stokeworth and Bella Heathcote as Jeyne Lothson

Matilda De Angelis as Megette and Jodi Comer as Alysanne

Ellie Bamber as Lily, Clémence Poésey as Willow and Marina Moschen as Rosey

Brad Pitt as Daemon Blackfyre and Nora Arnezeder as Casella Vaith

Kylie Bunbury as Bellegere Otherys and Jasmin Savoy-Brown as Bellanora

Marsha Thomason as Narha and Wilson Mbomio as Balerion

Sai Bennet as Barba Braken and Matteo Martari as Aegor Rivers

Emma Canning as Melissa Blackwood and Emily Bader as Mya Rivers

Angourie Rice as Gwenys Rivers and Robert Pattinson as Brydnen Rivers

Aisling Loftus as Bethany Bracken, Mischa Barton as Serenei of Lys and Sienna Guillory as Shiera Seastar

ASOIAF Fancast - Aegon IV's mistresses and children

I vaguely discussed her feelings towards his mistresses in this post here, but I can go a little in depth on her feelings towards his most infamous mistresses. Keep in mind, Visenya tends to internalize her thoughts and feelings (especially towards others) a lot, so while she most definitely is stiff, cold and indifferent towards the mistresses externally for the most part (Missy aside), this post is meant to deep dive on her more innermost thoughts about them.

Falena Stokeworth - Her father's first mistress, she feels a significant degree of disgust towards her as she had started her affair with him when she was a grown woman and her father a 13 to 14 year old boy (rare moment of sympathy for her father here). Furthermore, she's even more sickened by the fact she brought her young maiden daughter to court and dragged her into her affair with the king, resulting in the poor girl catching a pox from Aegon. All in all, she thinks she's vile and silently judges her heavily.

Megette - Her father's second mistress, and the only one of low birth. Visenya actually didn't know about Megette until she was a little older. Because Meg had been of common birth, and Viserys II had wanted to conceal Aegon's scandal marriage to her, he had suppressed knowledge of her and their bastard daughter's pretty well. Only a select handful of people at court are aware of the short-lived marriage, and as to what happened to Meg when she was returned to her original husband. When she'd finally learned of Meg and her four, elder half-sisters who'd been made septas, she was more shocked than anything. Her father had always been very blatant and open with his affairs, so the secret nature of the marriage came as a surprise. More than anything she just really pities Megette and what became of her, though she isn't very curious about her older sisters. She figures trying to reach out and connect with them may bring more harm, as Visenya believes they might not harbor the best feelings towards the Targaryens after all that happened.

Cassella Vaith - Her father's third mistress, Visenya pities Cassella similarly to how she pities Megette. She finds her circumstances (a political hostage being used as a bed warmer for a shitty prince, who eventually grew bored of her and tossed her aside) unfortunate, even more so when she learned of Cassella's apparent delusions that Aegon truly loved her and would come back for her.

Bellegere Otherys - Her father's fourth mistress and first non-westerosi lover, Visenya is mostly indifferent towards her. She doesn't actually know much about Bellegere, and aside from the judgement towards her being her father's willing mistress, she doesn't have any other reasons to hate/despise her. Bellegere is the sort of the mistress who's far away and out of sight, not bringing any problems to court, and that much Visenya can at least appreciate. So she chooses to remain stiffly indifferent towards her, pretending she doesn't exist, and she has no relationship nor curiosity towards her older half-siblings through Bellegere. While her sister's through Megette are more easy to contact as septas, she has no idea where her siblings through Bellegere are, and tbh she doesn't rrly care.

Barba Bracken - Her father's fifth mistress, and one she hates on a personal level. Visenya was made very aware, from a young age, the incident that occurred between her mother and Barba when she and Dany were born. How Barba and Lord Bracken talked very openly about Aegon remarrying Barba and making her queen, all while Naerys was struggling to recover from a difficult labor. The offense and insensitivity towards her mother's plight boils Visenya's blood, and so she harbors a personal hate towards Barba, very openly ignoring her during the few times they've encountered each other. It doesn't help that she hates Aegor too lmaooo.

Melissa Blackwood - Her father's sixth mistress, and perhaps the only one she's on really good terms with. Visenya was raised around Missy and her children, and grew up watching her mother, uncle and older brother maintain a good relationship with her, so she was heavily influenced by this and maintains a positive relationship with Missy. Though, I would say she is much closer with her half-siblings, Mya, Gwenys, and Bryden, than she is with Missy herself. She is respectful and polite towards Missy and thinks of her more as her mother's friend than as, like, an aunt figure or something.

Bethany Bracken - Her father's seventh mistress, Visenya feels pity towards Bethany, but also thinks her and the Bracken's plot to steal her father's attention from Missy to regain their power was incredibly foolish. Whenever she recalls the end that overcame Bethany, and the deaths of her, her father, and her lover, she can't help but shake her head and sigh, thinking it was a tragedy that could've been avoided had Lord Bracken and Barba not leapt too high.

Jeyne Lothston - Her father's eighth mistress, she is the one Visenya pities the most, and she feels wholly uncomfortable about all the details of her affair with Aegon. From the fact she was 14 being pressured and groomed by her own mother to become a fat, old king's mistress, that she might have even had to perform sexual acts upon the king alongside her mother (perhaps even on her mother! ick!), and then catching a vile pox from the king. Ugh, it makes Visenya queasy just thinking about. She especially is uncomfortable about the rumors that Jeyne may be Aegon's biological daughter (Targ incest doesn't phase her, she's a Targ, but this is a boundary even they do not cross). Ultimately, she pities Jeyne, but also is deeply uncomfortable with the strange affair that took place between Jeyne, Falena, and Aegon. She tries really hard not to think about it, it makes her sick, especially as a mother to a daughter herself, she cannot fathom wtf was going on in Falena's head to willingly endanger her only daughter like that. (Tbh, she feels this way towards a lot of the lords who exploit their daughter's to curry favor with Aegon).

Alysanne, daughter of Aegon IV

After all, Aegon didn’t just make Megette his sexual partner - according to Yandel, “[Megette] and Aegon were even ‘wed’ in a secret ceremony conducted by a mummer playing a septon”. Of course no one would have believed that Aegon and Megette’s play-marriage was legally binding, given that “bride” and “bridegroom” were already married to other people and that the officiant seems to have been deliberately chosen for jovial mockery. Yet the very farcical nature of the “marriage” may have been precisely what Aegon wanted, specifically to hurt and demean his sister-wife and queen.

Aegon had every reason to know that Naerys was deeply unhappy in their own marriage, in no small part I think because of her religious scruples. I very much believe that Naerys had wanted to become a septa, rather than marry her brother, because she (along with other Targaryens of her generation) believed the Doctrine of Exceptionalism was a heresy which had incurred the wrath of the Seven. Moreover, when Naerys had attempted to voice her pious resistance to their incestuous union, Aegon had responded not just with denial, but with scornful, sardonic cruelty.

Though Aegon IV the Unworthy had countless lovers, he claimed to have loved only nine of them, and that his wife, Naerys Targaryen, was not among them:

Falena Stokeworth. She had been a candidate for the second wife of Aegon III, Aegon's uncle, but broke her leg the day before the presentation. She became Aegon's first lover, who "made him a man" when he was fourteen. The affair lasted three years, and when discovered by Aegon's father Viserys, Falena was married to Lucas Lothston, later made Lord of Harrenhal, but is said that Aegon to have continued to visit her for several years.

Megette. A blacksmith's wife whom Aegon bought for seven gold pieces and the threat of his guards. They had a four-year affair during its she bore Aegon four daughters: Alysanne, Lily, Willow, and Rosey. When Viserys found out, he sent Megette back to her husband, who beat her to death within a year, and gave their four daughters to the Faith.

Cassella Vaith. Cassella was the daughter of Lord Vaith and came to court as a hostage during Daeron I's Conquest of Dorne. She became Aegon's mistress but he soon grew tired of her and had no problem handing her over when, upon Daeron's death, the hostages were supposed to be killed (Baelor I decided to send them home instead). Cassella never married and lived in the belief that she was Aegon's one true love and that he would soon take her back.

Bellegere Otherys. A Braavosian merchantess and piratess, she met Aegon when Baelor sent him to Braavos to give Naerys some respite from his near-death experience after a stillbirth. They had a ten-year affair and three children, Bellenora, Narha, and Balerion, though many claimed that Bellegere had lovers everywhere and that the children could have been anyone's.

Barba Bracken. She had been a lady-in-waiting of the Maidenvault at the end of Baelor's reign, and met Aegon when the princesses were freed. She was his mistress when he rise as king and bore him a son, Aegor (Bittersteel), two weeks before Queen Naerys give birth the princess Daenerys and a stillbirth son, after a painfull labour that brought her to the brink of death. At that point Barba and his father, the Hand, began to speak openly of marriage, and this led to their downfall: Aemon and Daeron, Naerys's brother and son, forced Aegon to send them away.

Melissa Blackwood. Considered the most gentle, kindhearted and modest of the Aegon's mistresses, Melissa, who bore him three children, Mya, Gwenys, and Brynden (Bloodraven), was well loved by court and even managed to become friends with Naerys, Daeron, and Aemon. When, after five years, she realized she was losing the king's favor, she retired gracefully, and the nice memory she left behind at court facilitated the rise of her son Brynden.

Bethany Bracken. Sister of Barba, she was trained with the specific purpose of replacing Melissa and avenging her sister. However, she was caught cheating on the king and executed with her father and her lover.

Jeyne Lothson. Daughter of Falena Stokeworth and her husband, many believed that she was actually Aegon's own daughter, and this led to all sorts of rumors spreading, including that Aegon was having threesome with both mother and daughter at the same time.

Serenei of Lys. Aegon's last mistress, she was considered the most beautiful of them, but the coldest, despite Aegon's calling her "Sweet Serenei", and was accused of being a witch. Last descendant of an ancient and noble but poor Valyrian Lyseni family, she died given the king his last known child, a daughter named Shiera Seastar.