After The Dragons Danced

[neyra]

Fourth Moon, 131 AC

The Dreamer

The sight of Morning brought cheers from the city. Rhaena Targaryen knew it would, from the dreams that had been hounding her night after night since her dragon first emerged from its egg, scarcely a moon's turn ago. Yet it still surprised her. Ensconced in the safety of the Vale, she'd heard of the city turning against dragons that lived within. How the city's denizens killed five of them, she could not fathom, but they had. In the distance she could see the ruined edifice that had once been the Dragonpit, the massive dome that had been its crowning glory broken and cracked, leaving behind only rubble.

Unlike her, Morning was not one to waste the chance of basking in the glory being showered upon her because of fear. Still perched on her shoulder, her glorious hatchling unfurled her vivid pink wings and gave a shriek that was nothing to the growing raucous that followed them all through the King's Way as she rode towards the Red Keep. She made a pretty sight.

Though still weary of any hidden archers that might attempt to take aim at her drake, Rhaena took time to glory in the cheers; waving this way and that as the folk along the King's Way showered her with wreaths of carnations. There was no danger to her or Morning ultimately; she was surrounded by knights of the Vale and ten of the remaining score of Dragonkeepers she'd picked up from Dragonstone while sailing from Gulltown.

"The city adores you, princess," Lady Jeyne said beside her, waving as she was.

"I fear the adoration is for Morning, my lady," Rhaena replied, gesturing to her drake, now perched atop her head, her obsidian claws trying their damnest to disentangle the braid she had painstakingly put her hair under that dawn.

Lady Jeyne laughed, in the pretty way she normally did. The maid of the Vale did everything prettily, save for sending her men to fight for the queen, of which she did none. The smile on her face dimmed at that thought. She reminded herself to be thankful. The Vale had kept her safe and away from the wa. It was in the Vale that her dragon had hatched and the dreams had first began. She shuddered to think what would have befallen her without the safety of the impregnable Eyrie, dragonless as she had been.

Aegon's High Hill loomed in the distance The seven towers of the Red Keep seeming like fingers clawing into the morning blue sky, uncharacteristic of the Winter that had blanketed the realm in snow and ice and sleet this past year. Before today, she had only ever been to King's Landing and the Red Keep twice in her life; once to receive the king's blessing when she was only half-a-year old, and the second time to attend the usurper's wedding to his sister.

There was a certain beauty to the red castle, she had to admit. The cruel iron ramparts that crowned the seven towers, the immense grim barbican, the massive curtain walls studded with archer's nests, the vaulted halls and covered bridges; it was all callously magnificent. Her ancestor, Aegon the Conqueror, had ordered the castle built. Maegor the Cruel had seen to its completion, before beheading every worker that had laboured on it. Blood and bone built the Red Keep, Father used to say, and blood and bone was all left of you after a long enough stay.

Though born and raised amidst its harsh beauty, Father loathed this place. The endless intrigue, the subtle games of power that self-important lords of the realm played to gain more power for themselves, felt a constant noose around his neck, he'd said. He had been determined to keep all of it away from them. Alas, in their rush to find comfort and safety, they had shut their eyes to the danger coming for them. Small cracks had grown into colossal chasms, and in time, those chasms became canyons that swallowed them all.

Father, Jace, Joffrey, Cousin Rhaenyra and her beloved were all dead. Those that would shield them from the realm's ugliness were gone. Only the four of them were left; Aegon, Viserys, Baela and her. For good or ill, the cup had passed to them. It was up to them to play the damnable game of thrones, or their descendants would be the ones to suffer in their stead, as she'd seen in the dreams.

She often wondered whether her Daenys' dreams had been as detailed as hers were. Her ancestor had forseen the destruction of the Freehold, and it is only her intercession that saved their house, that saved the dragons. Rhaena had seen the fall of the dragons too; the beasts dying out two decades from now, and the Targaryens left to nothing more than two little children fleeing from place to place in the cities across the Narrow Sea, before eventually selling themselves for an army of uselesss savages.

How strange did that sound? The only remaining house of dragonlords in the world forging an ill-fated alliance with the Dothraki. The last dragon, a small pitiful thing with weathered wings, dying within Rhaena's own lifetime. Her beloved Morning, so named for the new dawn she intended to bring to her family after the darkness that was the war, vanishing from history. Father would have guffawed if he'd ever heard her tall tales. Rhaena herself had found them hard to believe at first, but the clarity with which she saw those tales, written of both their past with stunning accuracy, and the future they were marching onto, filled her with a conviction she had once thought impossible to muster.

Whether she would be remembered as Rhaena the Dreamer did not matter. Whether she would be remembered at all by the new history they would forge accounted for nothing. What mattered was that they acted to save themselves and their descendants; both the cruel and the kind ones, the usurping bastards and failed conquerors, the mad kings and the unlikely rulers, the warrior princes and the gentle maesters, the famous sons and forgotten daughters. It was her duty to give them a better future than they would have had, a future where none could tear them down.

Before her attention could turn to the fate of their descendants, there was Viserys. For so long, she'd believed him dead, drowned beneath the waters of the Gullet as battle raged. Above all others, it was his death that had been most keenly felt, almost shattering her. Valonqar had been like her in so many ways; dragonless, the lesser among more impressive siblings, a burden on the rest of family. Unlike her, however, he'd never complained. He had instead strived to unlock his potential, driving her to do the same. Her joy at Morning's birth had been soured somewhat by the knowledge that Viserys died without the joy of taking to the skies on his own dragon.

But he was alive and well. The dreams had shown her so. They had to get him back, safely, soundly, and quickly, before he would be forcibly betrothed to the harpy that mothered his children only to abandon them when they were little more than babes. There was only one way for that to happen, and she finally saw it in the distance as Rhaena and the Valemen behind her rode into the Red Keep's courtyard.

Ignoring the cheers and welcomes by the rest of court, Rhaena kicked her palfrey into a canter, straight for her twin sister. Stableboys and serving girls darted out of the way, some cursing her recklessness, Rhaena uncaring of them. She hastily dismounted the horse and ran straight into the arms of the other half of her soul.

"You're alive!" Rhaena said, her voice tight with emotion and eyes wet with tears, "I was so, so worried!"

"I'm alive, idaña," Baela replied, her voice breaking, their embrace tightening. Morning squirmed between them, but soon found a way to wrap her tail and neck around the both of them, joining the embrace as well.

Even when the dreams came, the cessation of Baela's letters had her heart in her throat. They were the one thing that kept her sane during her time in the Vale, knowing that the twin she had shared a womb with was well and healthy and whole, as bullheaded as she was in her determination of going into battle beside Jace.

Those letters had stopped coming right after she had heard of Father's fatal battle with the Kinslayer, and for almost a year, Rhaena had drowned in worry for Baela. It had been better knowing Father's, Jace's, Luke's and even Viserys' fate - when she had thought him drowned at the bottom of the Narrow Sea. With them, she could mourn, as heart-wrenching as the grief of their death was. But to not know… That was a different kind of pain, one that threatened to drive her to the point of madness.

The knowledge of Baela's safety that came with the dreams gave her reprieve, but it was nothing compared to holding her in her arms once more, feeling her heart beating beside hers.

She disentangled herself from her twin and examined her, as if gazing upon her for the first time in her life. Baela was more slender than she remembered, almost to the point of gauntness. Rhaena knew of the ordeal she had endured, but seeing its evidence on her made her heart break all over again.

"I'm sorry…" that I wasn't there for you. That I did not claim a dragon of my own and join you in battle. That I chose my own safety instead of risking it all like you did. But all she said, was "…about Moondancer. I heard…"

"I"I tried to finish the usurper off for good," Baela replied, "but I failed. But we tried. Moondancer… was braver than she had any right to be." It was then that Baela saw the dragon coiled about her like a stole for the first time.

"Morning I take it," she asked, gesturing to the hatchling now dead to the world, all the enthusiasm shown during their procession across the city faded.

Rhaena only nodded, trying desperately to maintain her courtly poise in the midst of the fresh tears flowing down her cheeks and the snot leaking out of her nose. Baela had no such cares as she took her in another embrace, this one more urgent than the last.

"You're a dragonlord now," Baela said into her ears with a wet voice, "It is fitting, I suppose, that one of us remains so."

Rhaena eased the suggestion almost instinctively. It had been a matter she had turned over in her head countless times, "There is Silverwing."

They broke the embrace and Baela shook her head with uncertainty, "I do not think I could. Not after… not after the war… not after Moondancer…"

Rhaena thought of telling her everything right then and there, but there were scores of people milling around them, some of them courtiers that were staring at them openly, waiting to greet their returned princess. It would not do for strangers to hear of her dreams. The war had taught her that a lord's allegiance is to themselves first, not their lieges. Who knew how the tales would spread, especially now that her dreams were the only true advantage that her family held above the rest of Westeros. They did not have their dragons yet, nor an army that was truly their own.

So, Rhaena wiped her face clear of the tears and snot, and with a practiced smile on her face, greeted those that had been sent to welcome them alongside his sister.

The sight of a stable-hand unloading the satchels on her horse took her attention.

"Wait!" she told the him, "I'll carry those myself."

Knowing better than to gainsay her, she let them go, moving away from her palfrey altogether. Baela helped her deftly untie both satchels from the saddle, with her taking one and her twin the other. Ever curious, Baela peeked inside, and understood at once why she elected to carry them themselves.

Rhaenyra had so graciously given her three dragon's eggs from Syrax's last clutch to take with her to the Vale, entrusting her with the future of dragon-kind should all go to ruin during the war. After Morning's birth, two of those eggs remained unhatched, both of which she had never let out of her sight. She'd watched them like a hawk even more so when the dreams came. In the next two decades, something had caused dragon's eggs to stop hatching entirely. She could not allow whatever caused it to happen this time. Not again.

"Where is Aegon?" Rhaena asked, as she finally made their way into the castle, the Dragonkeepers falling into lockstep behind them.

"In his chambers," Baela answered, "The wolf keeps him under heavy guard in Maegor's. The man is mad, mad I tell you. He desires war with Storm's End, Casterly Rock and Oldtown. Thank goodness the Cobrays rid him of those delusions."

"Corwyn is already here?" Rhaena asked. That would make her plans much, much easier.

"Aye, and her brother Lord Leowyn. They arrived yesterday, after bending the knees of the Crownlander lords. Lady Jeyne did us a great service in sending them."

Lady Jeyne had entered the castle long before them already, seeking to appraise herself of the situation in the capital. Even in the Vale they knew of Lord Stark's plans of continuing the war, and more war was not something the maiden of the Vale desired, especially now that her men would be in the fray.

"I thought you would desire war with those that have taken so much from us.," Rhaena said, "The usurpation was a Hightower plot, the Lannisters being their main backers. The Baratheons, our own kin, betrayed us and sided with them for the chance at gaining a higher standing."

Baela's reply was filled with weariness, "The bloodshed has gone on too long. We've gotten our vengeance on those we could. The usurper is dead by Grandfather's hand. The Kinslayer was slain by Father's own sword. Both the usurper's sons are dead; the eldest by Father's doing, the youngest torn apart by a mob. Their whore grandmother is descending into madness. This business is done."

Rhaena chose to ask, "What of the Triarchy, who attacked Driftmark, who took our brother from us?"

There could not be more exhaustion in her reply if she even tried, "They were served with dragon's flame, were they not? I hear their alliance is broken. They will soon go to war with each other, as they have for eons." Baela took a breath, before finishing her thought, "Nonetheless, Jace and Viserys is dead. Nothing we do will ever bring him back."

You don't know how wrong you are on that, sister, Rhaena wanted to yell. Alas, not here, in the midst of the castle, where the walls have ears and voices of their own to bring news of whatever was talked about those far away.

It did not bode well that Baela herself was this unenthused by the prospect of justice. Like Father, she had always been courageous, never afraid to leap into danger when required of her. She knew for certain that for Viserys, Baela would trudge through the fiery mountains of Valyria themselves to ensure his safety.

Walking through the corridors, it was clear that Lord Stark had the castle firmly in his hands. On each hallway and door, hard men with shaggy woolen cloaks and full beards stood guard, all with the livery of the grey direwolf sown onto their armour.

"What of Grandfather?"

Baela's face turned sad, "In the dungeons, arrested on charges of regicide. His guilt is to be proven in a few days, and execution will follow. I among many have tried all I can to dissuade him of that, but he is adamant that the usurper's killers should face justice."

Rhaena smirked to herself as they entered Maegor's Holdfast, on her way to Baela's chambers, "Worry not, I will deal with the wolf. Grandfather will be free."

Politely dismissing the northmen from Baela's chambers proved to be a trial for her patience, but they ultimately agreed to her kindly-worded command. The black-armoured Dragonkeepers took their places, with two taking stationed at either side of the door to the main chamber, and two others at the door to the bedroom. The rest stayed in the main chamber; they would be deployed to Aegon's quarters.

It was only after they were safely in the bedroom, with the doors barred by the trunks bearing her luggage, that Rhaena took hold of her sister once more and whispered with urgency into her ear in their mother-tongue.

"You need to claim Silverwing. Viserys is alive. He is in Lys, and he's alive. You need to take Silverwing and fly there to get him back."

The shock writ on Baela's face could be forgiven, Rhaena supposed.

---

Baela Targaryen

"What?" Baela whisper-shouted into his sister's ear.

"Viserys is alive. He is a currently a captive of a magister named Bambarro Bazanne, being kept at his manse. Bambarro wishes to see who emerges victorious in the war, and offer ransom for either his person or his head." Rhaena whispered into her ear in fast-flowing dead dialect of Valyria that was spoken in the topless towers of the Freehold itself, so they could not be overheard.

"How do you know this?" she asked, matching her tongue.

Rhaena sighed, "I've been having dreams…"

"Dreams…" Baela asked.

Rhaena nodded, "Like Daenys' dreams… I can't go into much detail yet, at least not here, but my dreams, like hers, chronicle catastrophe for us, our line, and the dragons."

"What?" Baela asked again, stupefied.

Rhaena took her hands in hers, and there was nothing but earnestness in her lilac eyes as she spoke next, still careful to keep her whispering tones low, "Look, I know that you are skeptical of dreams and portents, but believe me, I have been having them, night after night since Morning hatched. I've seen the next century and a half, and all the tragedy and misfortune that befalls our descendants. It all traces back to us. We can do much and more to prevent all of it."

Rhaena was right. Baela did not believe in dreams or prophecies; even in Daenys the Dreamer. It made more sense to her that the Targaryens had suffered some mishap at court and had to flee the Freehold with some urgency or face death. To her, Daenys and her dreams were a tall tale that Aenar the Exile came up with to hide the shame of the Targaryens. None would ever willingly leave the grandeur of the Freehold.

She took another look at Rhaena's eyes, and found no sign of jest there. She was telling the truth. Whether the dreams were true or false, she had seen Viserys in Lys, being held captive by some magister. Would she let her stubborn notions risk her brother's life?

The war had taken so much from her. Her father, her mother in all but name, her beloved, two of her brothers, her dragon…All of them were gone. If there was a chance to get at least one of them back, no matter how slim that prospect was, shouldn't she take it? Shouldn't she move the earth itself for the odds of abating some of the devastating grief and loss she had suffered?

"I may not believe in dreams, but I believe in you, Rhaena," she replied.

Baela would need a dragon to get him back, she knew. The magisters across the Narrow Sea were the soul of avarice. If this Bambarro Bazanne truly had Viserys, only the fear of dragonflame would cow him.

Replacing Moondancer was not something that Baela had ever thought she would do. Their bond with each other had been forged years before she had emerged from her egg.

In her dreams, she still flew upon those pale-green and pearlescent wings, soaring above all the fire and ash that had become her life after the war. After being taken and chained by the usurper, only the dreams of Moondancer kept her sane, kept her alive for all she knew.

During those days, the usurper would have her freed in the mornings and brought to the courtyard to see his golden wyrm devour the remains of her dragon. At first, she would struggle and yell and shout for it to stop, for him to have mercy. With tears falling down her face, she would tell him that he had won, that he was the true king, that their queen was only a pretender.

Moondancer's corpse did not get any reprieve. Day by day, morning by morning, more and more of her would be fed upon, until one day they brought her and there was nothing more left of her other than black stains that would eventually washed away by the winter rains. By then, she had stopped yelling and begging for reprieve. Only silent tears fell down her cheeks, all the hatred and desperation that burned in her soul so brightly was extinguished.

Even when his golden wyrm finally died of the wounds inflected upon him by Moondancer, after devouring Rhaenyra, there was no malicious joy she could feel. Still, she was kept chained, for the usurper thought himself vulnerable to her attacks.

After Moondancer, she had been done; done with war and battle. Her well of courage and strength had run out, she had been convinced. She had wept often since then, for she was breaking the promise she'd made Father the last time she ever saw him, right before he flew off to the Riverlands to hunt down the Kinslayer.

"You are the oldest among your siblings now," he'd said, "It falls on you to protect and defend them where I cannot."

The rain was beating down on her face, and she looked up at him with eyes that stung with tears, "If by some chance I do not return…"

"You will return Father, I know you will."

He'd shaken his head and held her cheek. Father had never been one to shield them from a truth, no matter how hard that truth was. "The Kinslayer rides your mother's dragon now, the largest dragon in the world. If she prevails against me, ensure your siblings reached safety. Flee, if you have to. Fight, if you must. Whatever you judge ensures their lives, judge and do. Promise me, Baela… promise me,"

The tears had been flowing then. That was the only time in her life that she'd ever seen Daemon Targaryen shed tears. The embrace that followed their tears lasted a lifetime. As the sun set that day, the Bloodwyrm had taken off westwards, Sheepstealer quick on his heels. That was the last time Baela had seen him.

There would be no more failure from her. For the first time since Moondancer's death, she felt the ever-present grief burn away, and the courage that Cousin Rhaenyra oft said she inherited from Father return anew

"I will claim Silverwing, and I will get Viserys," Baela told her sister.

"Good," she smiled, "I'll have Ser Corwyn, his men and the Dragonkeepers guard you as you head West. When do you intend to leave?"

"Now," she replied, "All I need is a good horse and a new dragon's saddle."

Her smile turned into a smirk, "Very well."

---

The Targaryens and their Dragons - Circa Fourth Moon, 131 AC

• Aegon Targaryen (b.120 AC)
• Baela Targaryen (b.116 AC)
• Rhaena Targaryen (b.116 AC) - Morning
  A female dragon born in 131 AC, hatching from an egg laid by Syrax and sired by Caraxes. Morning is a beautiful dragon, with vivid pink eyes, scales and bright pink wing-membranes. Her flames, horns, crests, wing bones and claws are black as midnight.
• Jaehaera Targaryen (b.123 AC)

---

Author's Note:
If you've enjoyed this chapter and the story so far, you can immediately read up to three chapters after this one on here.

We're back with After the Dragons Danced, or, at least, a new version of it. There's quite a lot of things I need to correct from the previous version. Plot holes, story details that I am unsatisfied with, and ensuring the adherence to canon before things begin to diverge from here.

Tell me what you think in the comments below or over on the Discord.

 

[Error29]

Interesting, Im looking forward to what is going to happen. Is it going to be all outside pov? I noticed asoiaf fic are usually better when they are outside prespective. And do you have an update schedule? Thanks for the chapter.
Right, how many dragon are still there right now?

 

[Aravis]

Thanks for the chappy!!! I am liking the story so far, though I think I'd like some more of Rhaena's perspective. Is this going to be one of those stories told primarily from outside of the MC's POV? Nothing wrong with that, just curious.

 

[Phillip99Rus]

Orys Baratheon with Valyrian features? Velaryons and Celtigars are cadet houses of Targaryens? What the fuck is this?

 

[Phillip99Rus]

T'is the changes I decided to make to this AU. I wanted to make Targaryens be more blood-purists unlike how they were in canon, hence why they married into those houses so often. Baratheons still have black hair, those Durrandon genes are strong in that regard. But unlike canon, their eyes are sapphire blue, even sometimes indigo, due to how close to the Targaryens they were.

The reason for this is to drive home how unusual the marriage of Viserys to Hightower was. Dude was the first Valyrian since COB to marry a non-Valyrian.

It doesn't break the lore so far in any way though, I don't see what the problem with it is.

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Will they change the borders of the kingdoms? The Crownlands are too small and weak, it would be nice to include the Riverlands into the Crownlands.

 

[Kelsier Vin]

Show Alicent I feel a bit bad for but book Alicent deserved everything she got.

 

[Kelsier Vin]

Both of them deserve everything they got. What do you think of her in this chapter?

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I empathized with what's she going through. Losing your entire immediate family over the course of a few years is brutal. That being said it was her, Otto, and Aegon that caused that chain of events.

 

[Error29]

I empathized with what's she going through. Losing your entire immediate family over the course of a few years is brutal. That being said it was her, Otto, and Aegon that caused that chain of events.

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It's not like Rhaenrya was any better. She had the unique chance to be the first queen, and be the most important woman in a position of power, and she screwed it up by being a spoiled child. Definitely Viserys didn't help with him not shaping up her as his heir. But the moron then goes to make a couple of obvious bastards

 

[Sceonn]

What was the point of it all? What was the point of playing the game, on dancing of the strings laid before her? What was the point of making her children dance along with her, if it was all to end in fire and death.

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So you do learn. I really have no pity for this woman and her father, her children were ultimately just pawns for the Hightower's towering hubris. Hell one could even say Rhaenrya in all her glorious incapability was also a pawn due to Viserys' ego.

How will the Hightowers be punished? With the push for reconciliation not much, but King's Landing could house its own Citadel.

 

[Jack-21]

"They have Faceless Men. Even though Father trained us to see through glamours, war with them will still be incredibly dangerous since they can be disguised as anyone at any time. Tis for that reason that our great-grandfather did not simply burn their city down and retrieve the eggs," Baela replied.

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You need to get an arrangement with the Faceless men and how they feel if the Targs conquer or destroy braavos.

If the Faceless men don't give a shit beyond their temple being destroyed, then just send them an advanced warning and march your army.

You just have to wait until House Targaryen numbers recover without GRRM pruning it with wars and plagues, another 4-5 decades, House Targ numbers will be in the double digits.

That way the Iron Bank will bankrupt themselves before they can get through 5-10 dragon riding Targs.

If they actually do care, then the best you can do is just stop Braavos economic growth and seize their territory to send their development back. So they don't have the wealth to afford faceless men.

Faceless men can bring the entire seven kingdoms to their knees with ease, all they have to do start assassinating lords left and right, once their heads start dropping House Targaryen would be forced to agree to a ceasefire.

Also another factor is that the more powerful House Targaryen becomes proportionaly the faceless men will demand more gold/valuable sacrifice being offered will increase in value.

 

[Jack-21]

For now there's no beef between Braavos and the Iron Throne, and therefore the Faceless Men have no cause to take out the Targs. This was just a thought exercise for if they did develop beef due to Braavos refusing to give back Daenerys' eggs to House Targaryen. We shall see how things play out with them however.

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It all depends on how the group of Extremely Competent Assassination Death Cult think of Braavos.

At best, they would think of Braavos as just the city where their base of operations is located and wouldn't give a shit if it burned down.

At worst, Braavos is their playground and attacking it will be treated as attacking them, which means the faceless men might just retaliate against the Iron Throne without any payment (death cult, might not start assassinating before a 'proper' sacrifice is offered to the many faced god)

 

[Wolffils]

"When the time is right, you will be queen of the Seven Kingdoms just as Father, Rhaenyra and Grandmother always wished you to be. But not yet."

What? Is this to suggest that Jaehaera is to be killed or set aside? Why? Marrying competing claims to unite the bloodlines makes sense politically. Secures peace within Westeros and a great symbolic presentation of the Dance being over. Can't just be irrational pettiness to undo this. Is it because Baela rides Silverwing ?

Also, just to point this out, the main reason Rhaenyra needed Baela to marry Jace was to secure Velaryon support because her son was a bastard. Not out of some personal wish or genuine care for Baela's station in life. Same with Rhaena being betrothed to Luke. Rhaena was meant to provide another cloak of legitimacy and protection to Lucerys 'Velaryon '.

 

[Jack-21]

We at least know that they align in their abhorrence of slavery, but above that, I don't know how much else they work in concert with one other

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They are foremost a cult and the assassinations they perform is their worship to their god.

At most, Braavos probably has a discount on Faceless men services in return for turning an eye away from the House of Black and White.

I doubt Braavosi have any immunity to faceless men assassinations.

"When the time is right, you will be queen of the Seven Kingdoms just as Father, Rhaenyra and Grandmother always wished you to be. But not yet."

What? Is this to suggest that Jaehaera is to be killed or set aside? Why? Marrying competing claims to unite the bloodlines makes sense politically. Secures peace within Westeros and a great symbolic presentation of the Dance being over. Can't just be irrational pettiness to undo this. Is it because Baela rides Silverwing ?

Also, just to point this out, the main reason Rhaenyra needed Baela to marry Jace was to secure Velaryon support because her son was a bastard. Not out of some personal wish or genuine care for Baela's station in life. Same with Rhaena being betrothed to Luke. Rhaena was meant to provide another cloak of legitimacy and protection to Lucerys 'Velaryon '.

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Rhaena, Baela and Aegon hate the Greens. You have to remember that Aegon II, was torturing Baela & Aegon III and messing with their heads using death threats.

If Sunfyre had survived his wounds, Baela and Aegon III would have been tortured to death on Aegon II's command.

No way was Aegon II ever willing to put Rhaenyra's son as his heir over his own daughter. If the Blacks were defeated, he would murder all the claimants until only his daughter had a claim to the throne.

They only lived so Aegon II could use them as hostages/bargaining chips against the Black armies.

 

[Tertius711]

"When the time is right, you will be queen of the Seven Kingdoms just as Father, Rhaenyra and Grandmother always wished you to be. But not yet."

What? Is this to suggest that Jaehaera is to be killed or set aside? Why? Marrying competing claims to unite the bloodlines makes sense politically. Secures peace within Westeros and a great symbolic presentation of the Dance being over. Can't just be irrational pettiness to undo this. Is it because Baela rides Silverwing ?

Also, just to point this out, the main reason Rhaenyra needed Baela to marry Jace was to secure Velaryon support because her son was a bastard. Not out of some personal wish or genuine care for Baela's station in life. Same with Rhaena being betrothed to Luke. Rhaena was meant to provide another cloak of legitimacy and protection to Lucerys 'Velaryon '.

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Why not? Why should you resolve competing bloodlines when you have absolute power? Why let the daughter of your enemy be Queen and let her children rule when you are the dragonlords?

 

[Wolffils]

The lords can take up their symbols and political sense with Silverwing.

There's no way you put in all this legwork to restore your house and allow someone else to run it. Tis personal for Baela and Rhaena.

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Valid enough reason I suppose. When you have fire-breathing dragons as your personal mounts, autocracy and absolutism are inevitable.

 

[Wolffils]

Thanks for the chapter.

Also this story is one of the handful I've ever read where it has Laenor as being the father of Alyn and Addam of Hull.

 

[Wolffils]

You're welcome

What do you think of it? I believe it was the case in actual canon

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It's actually a personal headcanon of mine that Addam and Alyn were actually Laenors boys. Perhaps in his youth, he laid with Marilda a few times just to see if he had the temerity and ability to have sex with a woman. It's also another way that demonizes Rhaenyra which I support- Laenor was capable of fathering children. Its just that Rhaenyra never really tried with him and Laenor wasn't firm enough to push it and was happy with his male lovers.

Canonically though, its 100% certain that the Sea Snake was their father.

 

[Wolffils]

This is how I see the whole scenario having happened.
Addam and Alyn are either sired as children born of love from Laenor/Marilda, or children born of his father's command. Either way, Corlys finds out about them and hides them away to make sure that they don't fall into the radar of Daemon and Rhaenyra who would most certainly kill them. During the war, they become dragonriders since they are of Laenor's blood and Corlys has Rhaenyra legitimise them and make them heirs to Driftmark. Rhaenyra, due to her being desperate for more dragonriders, is backed into the wall and accepts. She places them before her own son Joffrey in the line of succession to Driftmark.

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These are literally my personal thoughts on the matter as well. The book may posit that Corlys are those boys fathers but for me this scenario makes far more sense.

 

[Wolffils]

Enjoy it a lot when an ASOIAF fic is written in the historical style like this.

 

[Aravis]

Thanks for the chappy!!!

 

[Aravis]

You're welcome, any thoughts on it?

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Not particularly for this chapter, but I am enjoying the story over all! This chapter was more of a transitional chapter with the main excitement being the retrieval of the ling lost brother, which went about as well as it could have! (Good thing, cause there could be a lot of issues with adding more drama when you already have major plot points upcoming.)

The only thing I had any issues with was the two arrows at once thing, which might have just been how I read it? Anyway, for someone who is the equivalent of a knight, being able to pull that off would have required either an extreme amount of talent or an investiture of time to the detriment of the more "knightly" skills.
He's a northman, so there is arguments to be made on what he spent time on as they don't have knights other than one family, I think? But either way, it's an odd level of skill for him to have. Maybe some follow up or beforehand knowledge on him might cover it or already did and I missed it. Either way, cool idea, out of nowhere and slightly odd, but certainly explainable, but cool none the less

 

[theoretisch cool]

nice. The only question is whether the Targaryens will start producing glass themselves or whether they will allow a vassal to acquire the knowledge. (I would be in favor of the former. Glass is a money printing machine).

 

[Nathaniel Carrion]

Definitely themselves. A goal of the twins is to depower their vassals as much as possible and empower House Targaryen as much as possible. Centralisation is the name of the game.

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That's right. The realm isn't an absolute monarchy. For now. Absolutism existed only when the monarch was able to ignore and overpower their nobles to put all power in the hand of the central authority due to socio-economics moving away from rural land to commerce. Westeros still follows feudalism. Also, there was never really a royal army unless you count the gold cloaks. Even when there was dragons around, the Iron Throne has always relied on the military support and authority of its high lords to get anything done and each still has a high level of autonomy. It's shown consistently that people tend to have more loyalty to their lords than they do their king. But the Targaryens never worried about any of that back then simply because they had dragons. That's very careless and complacent of them if you ask me.

Aegon the Conqueror thought feudalism was a better alternative to absolute monarchy if I recall correctly—instead of the King governing the whole country directly, he ruled through a chain of feudal relationships (eg commoners pay fealty to their lords, who pay fealty to high lords, who pay fealty to the crown). The king is not directly involved in the day to day administration of the country as a whole. Westeros is sort of a flattened, simplified version of the AngloSaxon system, which was not an absolute monarchy either.

In other words, the presence of dragons created a new political/military order in Westeros, not entirely unlike the one the Valyrian Freehold imposed over Essos: hegemonic domination through threat of annihilation. As the Field of Fire demonstrated, no army could withstand an assault from a dragon, meaning numerical superiority wasn't a thing anymore. No lord wanted to see their castles, lands, and people sundered by dragon fire, and by maintaing a monopoly on dragons (barring a couple of instances where House Velaryon had access to dragons through marriage), House Targaryen was able to keep even the Great Houses in line. That was the establishment they invested in for the first hundred years of their reign, because at the time, the idea that they could lose their dragons failed to really enter their minds. But, lo and behold, they did.

But this way of governance wasn't entirely new either because Aegon the Conqueror, despite his power, largely maintained the existing feudal hierarchy in Westeros by placing himself at the top because it was a practical way to rule such a large landmass, minimizing resistance by allowing existing lords to keep their power and titles while swearing allegiance to him, thus ensuring stability and preventing widespread rebellion across the newly united kingdoms; essentially, he "bought" their loyalty by keeping the system largely intact. And because he and his sisters didn't want to directly oversee and micromanage the administrative affairs of all these lands they've just recently conquered by themselves.

As the books and show has always proven, Westeros itself is not actually considered a nation-state or an absolute monarchy because it is divided into several semiautonomous and independent kingdoms, each with its own distinct culture and ruling house, rather than being a unified political entity under a single central government; this is more akin to a feudal system where power is decentralized across different regions. People in Westeros would identify with their region first and foremost and use those designations: Northmen, Valemen, westermen, rivermen, Ironborn, Dornish, etc. In proactive terms, regional affiliation is much stronger than national affiliation. When referring to people in the country as a whole, the term "Westerosi" would be used even though Westeros the continent isn't precisely the same thing as the Seven Kingdoms. In short, the people of Westeros tend to identify more strongly with their region or kingdom than with a unified "Westerosi" identity. GRRM said Aegon I, Aenys, Jaehaerys I and Maegor were the closest to absolute monarchs, and all of them had dragons.

So, the bloody aftermath of this civil war is a great opportunity for Rhaena and her siblings to further consolidate the royal power of House Targaryen over the continent and continue to centralize the entire realm into more of a nation-state instead of the decentralized confederation that it is. After all, a consolidation of power, especially if it has to be done quickly, comes in response to a crisis such as a war or an invasion.

Since the lack of successful centralization in the realm of Westeros can be attributed to a considerable number of interrelated factors. I think the most common answer to this is that circumstances got in the way of the Targaryen Dynasty building a better system. Aegon I was more concerned with completing/consolidating the conquest; Aenys and Maegor were focused on completing Aegon's work, especially the Red Keep, and maintaining their own positions; and then Jaehaerys attempted centralization without rocking the boat too much. The Old King tried for decades to reform and unify the disparate laws of the Seven Kingdoms, he built roads to knit the regions closer together, and he made his yearly progresses to demonstrate Targaryen supremacy. Like Jaehaerys managed to do some centralisation with codifying all laws into one and building the kingsroad. But his later years were spent much like his predecessors, being reactive instead of proactive. Viserys I wanted everyone to like him so he didn't impose any major reforms to the laws, even when it could have benefited his female heir. His inaction and foolishness is partly what led to the Dance of Dragons. Then the Dance screwed everything and set the kingdoms against each other. Further, killing all the fighting dragons removed the central unifying power structure that kept Targaryen rule unquestioned. Changes in relative power frequently precipitate conflict and predictably the kingdoms faced rebellion after rebellion, civil war after civil war.

Feudal systems are decentralized by their very nature (you get lordship of some land, you provide taxes and levies when your overlord calls). Keeping one's vassals balanced against each other keeps any one from challenging you, and 1-v-1 the highest lord should be able to take on any rebels, but you're essentially first among equals. It's a durable system overall but prone to frequent internal conflict, hence pre-Targ Westeros never being unified in any sustained way. Targaryen power in Westeros was not in land or armies but dragons, so post-Dance you have a feudal overlord with imperial ambitions that is demonstrably less powerful than several of his vassals. (When reading the book series, I've always found it incredibly strange how few troops the royal family commanded. The Targaryens had managed to keep power for this long only because of dragons, but with no dragons in possession of the future generations after the Dance, how had they held onto power without armies as vast as those of the Lord Paramounts?)

On a side note, I think Aegon V "the Unlikely" shows the paradox the Targaryens were in, especially after the dragons died out. Egg (as he is known as a kid and as I'll call him for simplicity sake) was a reformer and hence the most unique monarch out of all the Targaryen kings. He implemented many necessary reforms to win the love of the "smallfolk", and promote growth and trade by allowing small businesses to take off more. The problem is, with the way things were set up leading to his reign, of a very rigid feudal and manorial system with little mobility, multiple lords rebelled because of their lost privileges. This meant Egg spent a lot of his reign putting out these insurrections. These constant, unending petty rebellions made Egg desperate for a solution. Desperate enough to try and resurrect the dragons. In his failure, he destroyed Summerhall (the Targaryens second seat of power later on, both a vacation home and a very rich and fertile area), and got himself and his son and heir burned alive. This left his sickly and a lot more traditional son Jaehaerys II in charge, and put his grandson Aerys (who would grow into the Mad King Aerys II) further up in the line of succession. In other words, the Targaryens needed both dragons and their own personally massive army to keep a whole continent in check. As well as finding constant ways to make sure that they influence and control the peasants more than the nobles do.

Even Aegon III Targaryen who hated dragons because he saw his mother, Queen Rhaenyra, being eaten by Sunfyre, his uncle's dragon, which deeply traumatized him. Knew the importance of dragonpower. Despite this hatred, he later tried to revive the dragon population, knowing they were vital to Targaryen power and to uphold his family's legacy. He feared dragons and did not want to ride one, but knew they were the tools his family needed to stabilize the realm and cow those who sought to oppose the Targaryen dynasty in the future.

By contrast, true imperial systems like Valyria or Old Ghis are extremely centralized, with one entity utterly dominating and exploiting all others through economic, mercantile, and military force. But those systems tend to disintegrate when you remove the instruments of power that enable the central entity to dominate their vassals. Common cultural unifiers like language, religion, communications infrastructure, and trade have kept much of the Seven Kingdoms together longer than would be expected given the power relationships involved, but it seems pretty clear that as a single entity the Seven Kingdoms' power has ebbed steadily since the Dance and without a central dominating power to assume control, they will eventually fall apart. Which is exactly what happened in the books. In short, the Targaryens can pretty much be divided into two almost separate dynasties pre and post Dance due to the drastic loss of power.

Pre-Dance:
The Targaryens didn't care to institute too many drastic reforms, taking their lead from Aegon the Conqueror who seemed to prefer a more decentralized system and tried to avoid interfering with localized politics and traditions. Jaehaerys did a fair bit to try centralize Westeros but aside from that no other Targaryen King pre-Dance really shared that ambition.

Post-Dance:
The Targaryens power and dynastic respect took a massive hit. They went from Westeros' near undisputed Valyrian dragon riding masters to just the ruling house of the time. Rhaenyra's and Daemon's descendant Aegon V tried unsuccessfully to institute reform but was plagued with rebellion and disobedience because he lacked the power to force it through. Anyways, a lot of this is likely reflective of GRRM's own views on how reform happens with drastic reform needing violence and more subtle progress requiring some level of improvement in general education and/or living standards. Westeros also struggles by virtue of geography and cultural disparity. It's very big and there is at least one or two fundamentally incompatible culture pairings.

Generally, lords are very prickly about their power and privileges, and while Targaryens can break them by force, it tends to be expensive and risky. Especially if too many of them feel threatened at once. The closest any king came to restricting the power of certain lords was probably Aegon V passing laws for the sake of the smallfolk, and he faced constant opposition and even rebellions for it. But the one thing that made Aegon really special in that regard is that he cared a lot more about how the realm was run for the benefit of most of the people living in it, while other Targaryens were often just trying to make sure they were the ones running it, and keeping the status quo was the safest course of action in the short term. Many of the Targaryens before and after Aegon V weren't exactly wise and smart rulers. They were entitled and spoiled. Even the good ones have an over inflated perception of themselves and a fucked up perception of things. Also, the Targs were never really liked all that much, they were mostly tolerated. Also, there is no sense of national identity within Westeros. These people were their own thing in every one of the kingdoms for thousands of years until the Targs came and said "No"....and then did essentially nothing to foster complete unity.

Furthermore, House Targaryen's biggest weakness is that their power was rooted in fear. Now that's an effective tool for being followed, but it does not inspire eternal loyalty. Tywin Lannister's dynasty crumbled the moment he died because there was no one to be afraid of. Aerys had no weapon of mass destruction (except wildfire) at all and saw his family come to ruin. Rhaenyra basically sat aside and did nothing when the smallfolk slaughter all of her dragons. They all should've learned to work with their citizens, nobility and smallfolk alike (but the smallfolk mainly since the commoners tend to always outnumber the nobility. Three to one), instead of holding themselves above them as if they were actually chosen by gods. Instead they were a family slowly tearing their kingdom apart piece by piece. Their overall reliance on the dragons to win wars and as political tools to solely maintain their rule over the realm was very shortsighted error on their part. After all, a dragon or a sharp sword isn't always a suitable tool for solving all problems.

In summation, House Targaryen lost power because they failed to properly prepare for a future where they didn't have dragons; I think in the end, the prospect of such a future never even crossed their mind. Despite their dynastic state of decline, how did the Targaryens manage to retain power for so long after the loss of their dragons? Well, there were a few factors that helped keep the dynasty going in the canon:

1. Jaehaerys' efforts to improve infrastructure, most notably through the construction of the major roads throughout the kingdoms, greatly improved trade and commerce. This did a lot of to keep the peace and keep the lords happy with their rule as the norm. Why overthrow the family that helped make you richer?
2. War. War brings a country together and there were a handful of wars that challenged the Seven Kingdoms from outside. There were a lot of threats to Westeros within the following decades between the reigns of Aegon III and Jaehaerys II that helped unite people under the Targaryen banner in the name of patriotism. The Blackfyre Rebellions (especially War of the Ninepenny Kings), minor rebellions (i.e. Vulture King), the Red Kraken...conflict does a lot to secure a rule. In the books, the Baratheon rule was the strongest it ever was after the Greyjoy Rebellion.
3. Houses Baratheon, Tully and Tyrell were installed by the Targaryens. This meant that the Crownlands were bordered by the three domains run by the three Great Houses that were supposed to be unquestionably loyal or owed their position to them...until Aerys II.
4. Oaths. A considerable number of the lords of Westeros (especially ones whose families proudly uphold the values of chivalry and honor) take oaths of fealty seriously, and they all swore fealty to the one who sits on the Iron Throne. In Westeros, oaths are considered extremely important because they represent a sacred commitment to honor and loyalty, acting as a fundamental pillar of the social structure where breaking a vow can severely damage one's reputation and standing within the society, often leading to significant consequences, especially for nobility and knights who are expected to uphold their pledges with the utmost seriousness; essentially, an oath is a binding promise enforced by the belief in divine retribution for breaking it. In other words, oaths maintain the fragile balance of power by ensuring loyalty between lords and vassals, as well as between knights and their liege lords. Breaking an oath is seen as a grave dishonor, potentially leading to social ostracism and loss of credibility. Besides the concept of might makes right, the whole system is built on sworn oaths. The weaker lords are sworn to the stronger lords etc. Breaking a public oath is almost as bad as breaking guest rights (Yes, breaking guest rites is considered very bad because it violates a fundamental principle of hospitality, often seen as a sacred duty across many cultures, where a host is obligated to protect and provide for their guests, and guests are expected to respect the host's boundaries; violating this code can lead to severe consequences, including social stigma and even potential danger. In the book Fire & Blood, Manfryd Mooton refused to kill Nettles on Rhaenyra's orders because he considered it a violation of guest right; as Nettles and Daemon Targaryen were under his protection as guests in his castle, he saw killing her as a treacherous and accursed act, despite the Queen's command, and chose to prioritize his honor and that of his family's reputation over following her orders. Because in Westeros, guest right is a sacred tradition where a host is obligated to protect their guests from harm, even if they are enemies. It would've left a uncleansable black mark on his family name). What the Greens actually forced many of the lords to do invalidated the whole system. At the beginning of the Dance, please note how a lot of the older lords refused to forsake their sworn words to Rhaenyra and bend the knee to Aegon II. Most likely because they had personally sworn those oaths themselves 20 years ago. In contrast to Borros Baratheon who refused to honor his late father's oath. Houses like his went the other way. Using the same 'I swore no oath' excuse. Because it was their father who swore the oath, and either the sons didn't agree with it, or later decided to take advantage of a loophole. In my opinion, this was the most villainous act of the Greens. These senior nobles had no idea this was coming, and like cowards, they killed them or took them to be killed without honor. For example, these three (Lady Fell, Lord Merryweather, and Lord Caswell. Going by the book, the others who were there likely include Stokeworth, Rosby, Butterwell, Hayford and Buckler. No great houses would have been present at the time when the Greens committed their coup. It's mainly Crownlands nobles and those from parts of the neighbouring kingdoms that lie close to the capital) had to choose between breaking an oath and almost certain death. For many houses, your life is worth less than your word. If you continually go back on your word and your paths, other houses will stop associating with you, engaging in future oaths that are sure to be broken, or not come to your aid. A house that stands alone is a dead house, and as proved by Corlys, the only thing more important than your life or your word, is your family name living on through the generations. Not even Rhaenys broke her oath despite her bearing no love for Rhaenyra. Viserys the Peaceful…His first mistake was not realizing how good of an ally Daemon was to him, despite his faults. He even tried to tell him his council was full of snakes vying for their own gain. His second was remarrying to Alicent, not Laena or rather he should've never remarried at all (There are many things that can be pointed as factors that help caused the downfall of House Targaryen, but personally I believe that the one of the biggest mistakes that eventually led to the downfall of House Targaryen was Viserys I remarrying while leaving Rhaenyra as his heir.
   
   Since, that eventually led to the Dance of Dragons, which resulted in the Targaryens losing their most valuable and powerful asset; their dragons. The dragons were what made them rulers in the first place and set them apart from the other noble houses, once the dragon were gone, House Targaryen had no advantage over the other houses. Which ended up permitting Robert's Rebellion to be successful. Once any other family got access to dragons, something like the Dance was inevitable. Westerosi politics during the Targaryen era has succession fights, dragons or not. Maegor showed early on that seizing the throne simply takes a decent claim and a powerful dragon. So once another family had their own nuke (which comes with Targaryen blood and therefore a claim to the throne) then that's it - sometime in the future there's gonna be a dragon war. Him marrying Alicent if he really intended to keep Rhaenyra as his heir makes absolutely no sense. I mean, you could argue it was beneficial to produce more heirs in case something hapened to her and to produce more dragonriders but is that really worth the powder keg he was clearly creating by siring a male heir? In the end, Vizzy T got to be as memorable as he wanted to be. He will be remembered as the Targaryen King who basically destroyed the dynasty at its zenith. Or in this AU fic, he'll be remembered as the king who nearly did whereas Rhaena and Baela and their brothers will most likely be the ones who'll be popularly portrayed within the annals of Westerosi history for truly unifying and saving Westeros (and the rest of the world by extension). But also saving House of the Dragon from their own self-destruction). Third, was not seeing Otto for who he was sooner and letting him back into his council. Fourth, was giving the Green kids dragons because they were not meant to be given away freely….But his biggest mistake was and Rhaenyra's too was not establishing power sooner. As he was getting sicker instead of installing the Greens to act as Regents when it should've been his heir. He should've sent a raven to tell her to bring her ass to KL and sit in his stead. She ran away because of rumors. Also, he should've called another Great Council to have them re-swear allegiance (if I recall correctly, Otto Hightower said that since some of the lords of the realm at the time of Viserys' death were not the ones who swore an oath of fealty to Rhaenyra years before. Examples are Borros Baratheon and Cregan Stark. Therefore, he and the other Greens argue that these lords are not honor-bound to support Rhaenyra since they didn't swear oaths to her. But this argument is nonsensical in the context of Westeros. The reason is because when lords swear an oath to the royal family to support the king's heir they are not only swearing it for themselves. They are making the oath on behalf of their house. It is the same as a country ratifying a charter. The country's consent to the charter is considered binding under international law. Even if the leader of the country changes that doesn't give the new leader a legitimate excuse to ignore the terms of the charter. In the show, I believe Otto knew this. Which is one of the reasons why he wanted to have Rhaenyra and Daemon and their children captured and assassinated as soon as possible while him and the rest of the Green faction still had the element of surprise in the wake of Viserys' death to prevent a civil war. But then, Alicent took matters into her own hands and decided against this. Anyway, the Greens are such hypocrites. They say that they care about tradition but that is hot air. Tradition in Westeros matters till you have the bigger stick, whether that be armies or dragons.) to Rhaenyra, then immediately abdicate and give her the throne anyway. (I never understood this point. Viserys never changed the law, he only made an exception for his favorite child. That's it. He's not made some law that older sisters now come before brothers. Or that the oldest child, regardless of their gender, inherit before the younger. He'd robbed Daemon's daughters (their mother being Corlys' oldest child) of their birthright because he wanted to make his favourite child happy and have her bastard children inherit from the younger child of Corlys. It would have been cool if he had, that he'd changed the law. It would have been amazing if he spent the time Aegon I and Jaehaerys spent convincing the realm to accept the changes to the law they wanted to make. But he didn't. He made a declaration and then threatened to take the tongues of anyone who disagreed with him. This is not progress. It is tyranny. He was a weak, indecisive and self-absorbed person; whose desire for some kind of lasting importance but unwillingness to work towards that legacy. I actually think in his head he was being well meaning but he never considered the consequences of his decisions and behavior. His negligence led to the very same thing he feared would happen to his family. He's much like Ned Stark in this regard. In a way their flaws are similar, both are so in their own heads they are ignorant of wider consequences, neither are bad people on purpose but they are willfully ignorant and in their positions it truly matters. I genuinely have no idea why so much of the fandom is bending over backward to defend this man. Sure, he stood up for Rhaenyra a couple of times, but that was only to protect her from the short-term consequences of her mistakes, which she might not have made if she had been properly prepared for her role, and it came at the cost of endangering his other children. He is arguably the one who has gained the most from Westeros' misogyny, and he was abusive to both of his wives and his children, yet so many people are claiming that he was somehow a 'feminist girldad'. I guess it isn't as ridiculous as the claim that Maegor the Cruel was somehow a feminist because he had a female heir, but that is hardly an actual accomplishment. People blame Otto, Alicent, Rhaenyra, Daemon, Aegon, etc. Literally, all of these problems stem form him. Aegon only exists because of Viserys. Alicent is only queen because of Viserys. Daemon was wild, reckless, and disrespectful because Viserys allowed him to be. Rhaenyra is irresponsible and incompetent because of Viserys. Otto is Hand of the King and has much influence because of Viserys. Ambition wasn't the sole problem. Viserys' incompetence as a father, husband, and king put everyone in grave danger over his own wants. Then again, the Dance of the Dragons was always inevitable. There are plenty of ways to have delayed a Dance, but to prevent one…No, it wouldn't have been possible. One way or another, the realm was headed for a big huge civil war. That's one of the key points of the entire series is that the feudal structure that Westeros operates under just lends itself to create major war and conflict like this. Even if a war between the Targaryens and their dragons didn't happen in Rhaenyra and Aegon II's lifetime. I think that a Dance would've eventually happened, regardless of the scenario. Too many Targs, too many dragons in too small a space, too many people with delusions of grandeur and big ideas. The inbreeding doesn't help either. Also, I sincerely believe that the Dance didn't happen a generation earlier specifically because of Rhaenys. I actually think that her speech to Alicent in Season One is really interesting in this light, because in theory she could have seized the throne from Viserys but didn't.)
5. Propaganda. By the time the dragons died, it had been drilled into every Westerosi child's mind, lowborn and highborn, that Targaryens ruled by divine right. Feudalism relies on people not questioning the status quo, which is how every Lord or Lady rules over their people. They preferred it to the chaos that was Westeros Pre-Targaryen. They'd gotten used to the Targaryens ruling and the Doctrine of Exceptionalism established them as "superior" to normal men which is basically their equivalent to divine right of rule.

In short, the Targs kept ruling because of inertia. The Targaryens have been in power for over a century and are deeply embedded in the Westerosi political system. Meaning they are basically the face of the government that the realm depends on for stability. In the canon, this is the reason why none of the Great Houses have immediately overthrew them after the Dance ended. The dynasty was established enough that no one then remembered the pre-Targaryen era firsthand. If the dragons had all died out in, say, Aenys I or Maegor I's reigns, it might be a different story and the house probably would have been run out on a rail then. Also, overthrowing monarchies or government institutions is a lot of work. You need to unite enough kingdoms/people together. Convincing them to join you for no apparent reason other than "the dragons are gone" is usually going to be a hard sell. People like comfort. And they usually do not want to get out of the zone until their own existence or pride is at stake.

Furthermore, most of Westeros in the immediate post-Dance of the Dragons era had no military capability left, or limited capability, to fight the Targaryens or each other even if they wanted to. And none of the lords by then had any desire to upset the current balance of power. If you are a Lord Paramount and you declare yourself independent, chances are the rest of the kingdoms unite against you. So for any one Great House (the only houses that can really threaten Targaryen power), the math makes it so that you can't just unilaterally declare independence or want to take the throne by yourself. You need the support of enough of the other great houses to stand a chance.

To significantly improve society in Westeros, the most crucial areas for change would be: a more stable political system with less power concentrated in the hands of a few noble houses, greater social mobility beyond the rigid class structure, advancements in agriculture to combat the harsh winters and potential famines, and a shift towards more equitable treatment of women and lower classes; essentially, moving away from the feudal system that fosters constant conflict and towards a more centralized, just governance with improved economic stability. But the twins will need win and put down a lot of wars and rebellions to make sure this all happens in the future.

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Historical Map 12: The Conquest -The Field of Fire and Aegon’s Crowning

Of the Seven Kingdoms before the dragons, the two greatest were undoubtedly the Kingdom of the Rock, ruled from Casterly Rock by House Lannister, and the Kingdom of the Reach, ruled from Highgarden…

atlasoficeandfireblog.wordpress.com

Game of thrones (K&G and Bazbattle)

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RFTIT Basement Tapes: Revolt From Below

A while back, my editor Marc Kleinhenz asked me to write a bonus essay in case some of the Hymn for Spring essays didn’t come in on time and we needed to bulk out the book. I decided to write…

racefortheironthrone.wordpress.com

Feuds and Feudalism

George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire and the popular television interpretation of this work Game of Thrones was inspired by medieval events. This article discusses the historical complexity…

hawkstower.wordpress.com

A World of Ice and Fire: Chapter III (The Targaryen Kings)

Ok…this is going to be a long ‘un, but a good ‘un. Let’s tuck in, shall we, and see what’s left of the Hollow Crowns Parts Two and Three?

racefortheironthrone.wordpress.com

 

[Seyum]

Somewhere in Hell Daemon Targaryen has a moment of respite from his tortures and sheds a tear of joy.

 

[Jack-21]

The Braavosi will doubtless be pleased with them freeing the slaves in Myr and Tyrosh as well,"

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That's what Braavos says but the people in charge only care about their interests.

Also taking multiple cities and destroying numerous houses? Aren't they afraid of faceless men.

 

[neyra]

I've resurrected this story, with a rewrite. Please go read the edited first threadmark: 01. The Dragon Twins. Tell me your thoughts on what you think of it too.

I plan to post updates to After the Dragons Danced once a fortnight, with updates Intractable (ASOIAF Daemon Targaryen/Lady Mysaria AU) alternating with it.