#smokefireandash

So as we know, Rhaenyra is a deeply complex and incredible character (Team Black forever and always) and for me, she is a character that has gone through a lot in so little time. But there is no question that she fiercely LOVES her children.

She had a lot of expectations thrust upon her at such a young age.

One of the main reasons Rhaenyra hasn't named the reader her heir is because she believes she is saving her from the same fate she was subjected to (an unwanted marriage, even though she is now wed to Aemond, the expectation for heirs, the whispers of court, loss and war).

Here was a headstrong girl who grew up being named heir and being adamant that she could change the way the people thought, and then once the time came, the realm was split into two.

She had always fought with the misogyny of the realm and the men who had sworn themselves to her, and she is terrified that by naming the reader her heir (despite the reader wanting it, just as Rhaenyra had) she is signing her up for a lifetime of misery.

By Rhaenyra naming the reader as heir, she would be expected to stay married to Aemond, and birth heirs of her own. She would be watched with a close eye by the realm, and subjected to the courts whispers.

Rhaenyra has become disillusioned by the war, and especially by Lucerys and Visenya's death. Any hope she had to change the realm for women has dwindled, after all, most time spent after a war is rebuilding not changing.

As she said, the people would never accept two Queens. And she is right. The men of the realm would not. The tensions are already incredibly high. And a second war, would break out, and the support that Rhaenyra had would likely turn cloak.

BUT

Rhaenyra also worries for the reader. After the stint at the Riverlands, Rhaenyra fears that the reader may become a second Maegor. She has watched the way her daughter has changed, and has become more prone to outbursts, no longer being able to control her anger. She is concerned for her daughters safety, and the stress of the crown would weigh heavily on her.

All in all, Rhaenyra is an amazing parent, who deeply cares for her children. She would die for her children, a good example of this would be when she threw herself in front of Alicent and Lucerys, or when she walked through the Keep literally after giving birth to bring her son to Alicent. But she is also scarred and changed by loss and war, just the same as the reader.