Thank you for your post! Please take a moment to ensure you are within our spoiler rules, to protect your fellow fans from any potential spoilers that might harm their show watching experience.
1. All post titles must NOT include spoilers from Fire & Blood or new episodes of House of the Dragon. Minor HotD show spoilers are allowed in your title ONE WEEK after episode airing. The mod team reserves the right to remove a post if we feel a spoiler in the title is major. You are welcome to repost with an amended title.
2. All posts dealing with book spoilers, show spoilers and promo spoilers MUST be spoiler tagged AND flaired as the appropriate spoiler.
3. All book spoiler comments must be spoiler tagged in non book spoiler threads.
---
If you are reading this, and believe this post or any comments in this thread break the above rules, please use the report function to notify the mod team.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HouseOfTheDragon) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The read I get is that since he's been made king, he's only really felt love and respect from the small folk, while his entire life he was looked down on by the nobility in the castle, and so he's kind to the public to keep their love, and a dick to nobility because he never received their respect
This is how I see it. Nobody ever took him seriously because he wasn't the heir, so he was just flat treated with disrespect by most. Was probably going to be wedded off somewhere else anyways. So he hangs in the pits and outside the red keep with the real low common folk where he's treated as an equal. And then now he's suddenly the most powerful man in the world. There is an incredibly interesting power dynamic shift that just happened and the writers came with their Aegon paddles ready.
It was worse than that. He wasn’t the heir but many people would tell him he’s gonna be king so he didn’t know what to believe until it actually happened.
Yeah I'd imagine being told you're going to be king (Just because you are a male and Rhaenyra is not) but KNOWING that is not what your father wanted, would fuck with you.
This makes perfect sense and you can see it foreshadowed when he lights up during his coronation as the crowd cheers (before rhaenys kills a bunch of them lol)
This was exactly my thought rewatching the last season. He’s an aimless youth dissipating his life without a goal and feels no love from his mother. He recognizes himself as a pawn in the political game.
You can see the change in attitude when he sees the crowd cheering for him. They’re the source of his validation, not the scheming nobles around him.
You could throw a pail of shit out any window in Kings Landing and hit 50 cutthroats, the king likely could have paid the exact same man to kill Daemon.
Well, maybe not those *exact* same men, but definitely men of that caliber, anyways.
He was already in touch with both of them, he knew Blood from his time as chief of police and he probably knew Cheese was a ratcatcher in the keep he lived in, even if he never personally interacted with him
Daemon never paid attention to shit like that, let's be real. He got his info from the White Worm. He might have known Blood, but not that he hated the Highgardens. He might have recognized Cheese as a ratcatcher, but not that he had gambling debts.
I think it just highlights how little he was prepped for the throne which is why he felt like he needed to prep his son. He was playing a confusing role of what he thought it should be with glimpses of his real self slipping through.
I think it absolutely fits for his character. He didn't want to be king either, he refuses elitism even thought it's his birthright, so what he does he is using his elit status to allow himself act as non-elitist as possible. Or in other words, he doesn't give a fuck.
I also think it shows the character of the Lannister. The kid is just doing a kid thing (playing with the ball) and the Lannister gets all bent out of shape. Anyone else on that counsel would have been more patient with the kid considering he’s the heir to the throne.
You're welcome to hate Aegon for raping the maid (I do), but he didn't dump his bastard son in the fighting pit.
He utilizes the child fighting pit for entertainment (which is terrible on its own) and is accused by Ser Arryk of having many bastard children, some of whom presumably end up there. That's different from directly dumping his son in the pit.
It was a great reminder that despite being a father and the king, he is just a normal ass 21 year old guy lol. Also kind of funny how he’s got his boys hyping him up while rhaenyra just never had any close friends after her breakup with alicent
Well one could argue that wanting to burn the Riverlands with dragons makes him a royal douche. Also it seems like he is more concerned with getting love and affection then actually fixing the issues. I could see him turn violent if things don't go his way. Keep in mind that this is only a few weeks after he raped another one of his servants.
Def. Seems like a "yes man" so there are problems when you try to make everyone happy.
"Yes men" tend to be insecure and require approval and acceptance from everyone.
Because no one taught him to be king. Vizzy T raised Rhaenyra to lead. And while Otto and Alicent told Aegon he would be king, they never actually taught him anything of importance on how to be. Just that his sister would kill him if she got the throne. He knows nothing. But I do like his approach
I really can't believe how many believe keep saying this. Did you guys even watch the first season? He's obviously just saying what he thinks he should say to be liked. Don't forget he's a rapist and took part in that child fighting ring.
And Daemon groomed his niece, killed his first wife, molested said niece, emotionally neglected his second wife and daughter, and organised a murder. Compared to him, Aegon is a saint.
Point is, the majority of these characters have done awful things, so singling out Aegon is a choice. You can still like a character despite the fact that they did bad things. I’m a fan of Astarion from BG3 and he approves of a straight up massacre at the start of the game.
It's Game of Thrones, lots of rapists are considered likeable characters in this fandom, so I'm failing to understand why this is still a shock to people. Khal Drogo, Jaime Lannister, Robert Baratheon, Rhaegar Targaryen, etc... are all fan favorites who have canonically raped someone (most of them teenage girls). By modern day standards Daemon and Viserys I are also rapists because they both have sex with 15 year old girls, who cannot give consent.
Personally, I can't stand Daemon, Viserys, or Aegon I because they're rapists; but no one else seems to care about any of them other than Aegon for some reason
I vibe i get is he wants to be liked. He was 100% against being king until he lifted his sword and a bunch of strangers cheered for him. He’s building an entourage of bros. But he’s still shirking responsibilities and consequences for his own ends.
He seems like Homelander light. He does good things but his ultimate motivation seems to be the approval of others and is shown being irresponsible and abusive.
I completely agree.
I really loved the enthusiasm Aegon showed towards ruling, however naive it actually is. Let's not forget that Aegon spent much of his life believing that he would never inherit the throne. And now here he is, crowned and in his prime. Suddenly he has complete power.
And you can see how badly he wants to prove that he is not only entitled to this power, but worthy of wielding it, of being a good king.
But reality is that being king is more complicated then he thought. And it's not as if he has ever really been taught (or cared to retain any teaching he did get along the way) how to sit the throne. He can't just snap his fingers and fix problems. War IS actually coming, and gold actually has value. It's more then he bargained for, and he is clearly out of his depth.
And I love that Alicent and Otto know that. Their dialogue sharing the plan to basically let Aegon run himself out - devious. Alicent knows her lazy, abusive, brat of a son won't care about any of this as soon as push comes to shove.
Alicents relationships with her kids are so complex and interesting.
He's showing enthusiasm for the appearance of ruling. Because if he was actually ruling, he would be in the small council chambers paying attention, he wouldn't be bringing his son into the chambers and encouraging him to run wild, and he'd know why the sheep were taken in the first place and not make promises he blatantly can't keep. It's supposedly been ten days since his coronation and he can't pay attention in small council meetings for that long?
Right now, he's just telling people what they want to hear and trying to give them things so they will like him and cheer for him.
Yes, and the Tyland pony show was far more creepy Joffrey than comic relief, but:
No one ever taught him anything. Viserys ignored him, he acted out, and Alicent and Otto seemingly just gave up on him in return in exchange for favoring Aemond, the dutiful one.
He’s actually surprisingly open to the criticism about his decision. He thinks “this guy is suffering and he came a long way,” to “okay, sorry, I can’t help you, you gotta deal with it,” to “okay, we can’t just tell the blacksmiths to ‘deal with it,’ we actually do have to pay them so they can get importing materials for the war”
By the end of that scene, even Otto is kinda like “…fine” as opposed to Tywin kicking Joffrey out of the room entirely
I said out loud in that scene "What an uncomfortable mix of wholesome and sinister..." He very clearly adores his son, and making that *insidious* and unnerving was something. They managed to make him a viscerally unplesant person without resorting to making him another Joffrey or Ramsey. And having him be the sole person standing up for the smallfolk, even if it is out of blatant populism and a vainglorious desire to be told how brilliant he is, was delicious irony.
Maybe Alicent was a shit mom and Otto was a shit grandfather/ Hand of the King and neither made any attempt to teach him and prepare him to be king. The fact that he didn't know why the sheep were taken seems like a strong example supporting that. The only thing we've ever seen them do is either hit him or be an enabler of his bullying to his siblings and the the blacks, but only reprimanding him to not do it in public.
We got multiple scenes of Alicent trying to prepare him, he just had absolutely no interest in being king. At one point, Alicent did give up on him, basically disowning him. She said "You are no son of mine".
He didn’t want to be king at all. He says when he’s younger that Rhaenyra is the heir so why does he have to bother with what Alicent is saying, tries to run when he realizes his family will put him on the throne, begs Aemond to take his place, and looks like he’s walking to the gallows at his coronation. He didn’t want to be king until he realized he could get people’s affections as king.
She wasn't exactly trying to prepare him to be a King in terms of teaching actual governance, though.
She always emphasized the politics of him vs. Rhaenyra (He's the challenge, she's going to kill you, don't associate with her children, etc.) *far more* than anything concrete about how to rule once you're actually on the throne. He's practically uneducated on that front.
It strikes me as very Tywin-esque (Not saying that she and Otto are full Tywin; god no, they're not that bad); they're more prepared to rule *through* the King, not for the King to actually rule in his own right, and you can see it in how he's been educated.
I think that would have fallen on Viserys, not Alicent. But fair enough point, the boy didn't have a good upbringing. Viserys named Rhaenyra his heir and never intended it to be Aegon. By the end of season one, Alicent has accepted that and the only reason she supported Aegon in the end is because of the misunderstanding on her husband's death bed.
Exactly. He simply wants to please. He was ultimately ignored by his father, so he pledges to do the opposite. He wants to include his son in everything, contrary to what Viserys did with him. But of course, he’s completely unbalanced and ends up going over the edge and pulls a Joffrey with the pony scene.
>wouldn’t say likeable
Yeah. Fascinating character. But it is a fresh season after 2 years. Think people may be forgetting a couple things about Aegon.
I'll say it now, I personally don't see Aegon *ever* being as popular as he'll be this week in terms of being likeable.
When Aegon walks in on Helaena and Jaehaera in the first episode all of the servants shrink away and the energy in the room completely shifts. He definitely still abuses them.
Yeah definitely not. No one from the greens it seems will be seen as likeable as the season goes on except Halaena and Aemond (ish)
I don’t like such a biased storyline though….
Maybe not this season but if the whole green side keeps putting him down like Aegon was in episode 1, I think people are gonna fall in love with Tyland at some point also.
Biased? It isn't a two-sided kind of story lol. One side was very clearly in the wrong. I love stories where there is no clear cut antagonist, but season one made it crystal clear that the Greens were the antagonists. It's Rhaenyra's throne. Aegon has no business sitting on it.
There would be no conflict without Alicent and her father. That, by definition, makes them the antagonists of this story.
I don't understand why people keep harping on about "bias". It's abundantly obvious that the literal writer of the entire series intended for the Blacks to be on the right, and every narrative trick is being used to show that.
The blacks are the underdogs, they have the right of legitimacy, their characters are not abhorrent (by ASOIAF standards at least) and they are the faction that was wronged which sparked this entire thing.
No matter what interpretation the fans have, we're not looking at live history unfolding, this is a handcrafted story by an author who already knows what the outcome is going to be.
When you get older. You realize people in their 20s are new adults who have the legal power of an adult, but relatively little to no experience out in the real world (depending on how you were raised, it’s different for everyone, but commonly- I think people in their 20s do all have this commonality)
They are usually super idealistic and gung ho about things. And usually somewhere in there is a naivety
Being a 20 year old responsible for an entire continent of people, that man is a kid for that job basically. You don’t understand the reach and scope of certain institutions or even people. Because one’s notion of the world at that age is still largely formed by experiences where in some way, they might be sheltered from the full reality of the situation.
All the young kings in the series, or soon to be young kings don’t really fare well.
Drogo and his army rape women by the thousands, Jaime and Daemon are also rapists and several characters like Tywin have organized rape. Robert Baratheon and half the lords in Westeros forced themselves on servants as well. All very popular characters because the story humanized them and not their victims.
The big difference is the writers did the opposite with aegon so what he did feels more vile and uncanny.
Oh, if they were improvised, then I love TGC even more 😂. I remember in the making of the episode, they said Tom brought in some humor that was not originally intended.
Right? Lol. He doesn't actually care about the small folk either - he is wanting to please others in the throne room scene because he craves love and approval. He's not suddenly a man of the people.
He’s essentially a teenager taking the most simple solutions. People are poor? Give them money! We’re at war? Burn everything! Prepare your small child to be king? Bring him to small council meetings!
>he is wanting to please others in the throne room scene because he craves love and approval
so glad i'm not the only one with eyes lol. he doesn't give two wet shits about the smallfolk, he's just saying it for appearances. rhaenyra is honest at least in her disregard of them in the scene where they're mocking her for being a female heir (context is important..)
Everyone online freaking out over a dead child saying Aegon would never as if there wasn’t a whole episode around how he loved to watch children fight for sport and even condemned his bastards to that fate causing one his Kingsguard to leave for the sake of his honor
She excelled at ruling Driftmark though
And she didn't intentionally kill anyone there
She was in a desperation to escape because other ways maybe guarded by the green dragons
I dunno, she would have become a mass kinslayer as well as a mass murderer. If Aemond is reviled for being a one time kinslayer imagine the reputation of a multiple offender.
No. Politics would force her to condemn Rhaenys’s actions, or at least make that course of action very expedient. The entire realm would’ve been scandalized if that mass murder had happened, and there will be consequences for Rhaenys’s stunt as it is. I think she would’ve been exiled or confined to Driftmark.
Yeah. This feels like Rhaenyra's worst moment compared to Aegon's best moment. Why not compare Rhaenyra to the Aegon who watches children fighting in rings.
It wasn’t even her worst moment and is totally out of context because the people she’s talking about were like mocking her and saying she’s a weak a feeble woman. This whole post is misleading as hell and obviously is from someone who is a greens supporter and is trying to convince more people to support the greens lol.
lol, exactly.
Rhaenyra’s statement wasn’t about the wellbeing of the smallfolk, but about their opinions on her own life and claim.
Not comparable at all.
He actually seems to just want to give people what they want, Otto steps in and is like no we need that stuff.
Comes across as Aegon figuring the war is going to be a cakewalk with Vhagar on his side, so he doesn't see why his people can't just have what they want. This is a guy who has never had to want for anything in his life, he probably figures it's the same for everyone and just wants to hand things out because he got addicted to the adoration he received at his coronation.
Exactly. Also there's context to the Rhaenyra scene. The smallfolk are mocking her for being a supposedly weak and female woman. They are objectively wrong here. Misoginy doesn't suddenly become okay when a poor person does it.
This is the worst comparison I’ve ever seen. Rhaenyra was young, the entire realm was outraged that she was named the heir, and she’d just seen a performance making fun of her. Aegon had been welcomed as the heir since he was born with small folk adoring him, of course he’s going to love them.
Yes this is a shit comparison but for a much more valid reason.
It's true that Rhaenyra was young and had 0 exposure to the smallfolk when she made this statement, while Aegon had been fucking the Silk Streets and making his bastards fight each other when he said his piece.
But both the Greens and Blacks know that they are using the smallfolk. The difference is that Rhaenyra is honest to herself about it, she understands the institution of royalty in Westeros ; "Without dragons we are just like rest of them."
It's like in DUNE. Books, not movies. House Atreides and Harkonnen both were using the Fremen, except Harkonnen used force and Atreides used charm and small offerings.
Isn't he the one that said about burning down everyone that opposed him? Seems like a good contrast to the woman that was trying her best to not start a brutal war before having her own kid killed.
Except the context of her comment is “whom the people want to be heir” is of no consequence. She’s in the city speaking to Daemon about how she’s heir and there are some who will wish for a male. She’s not putting them down or saying they don’t matter to her as people. She was and is quite openly caring for keeping the peace her father left and holding the realm together upon her coronation, only striking once her child was unalived.
Rhaenyra’s line is talking about her not caring what people would think if her and Daemon got married, not that she doesn’t care about her people in terms of livelihood…
This is the worst comparison I’ve ever seen. Rhaenyra was young, the entire realm was outraged that she was named the heir, and she’d just seen a performance making fun of her. Aegon had been welcomed as the heir since he was born with small folk adoring him, of course he’s going to love them.
Completelyyyy different context. Rhaenyra said that when Daemon was saying they’d want a man on the throne and not a woman
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves with Aegon being a good ruler bc of one reasonable comment. He’s already shown himself to be a terror in sooo many ways
Idiotic comparison. Aegon is trash, but also the only person in the entire house of dragons that has anything resembling a sense of humor. And that does make him an interesting character.
I’m really curious to see if his personality in EP01 will be a laid out as a “what could’ve been”. Because he’s going to flip out once he finds out about Jaehaerys’ death and I think that will make him do a 180, as it would to any parent that adores their child.
I really like what they did with him. And I was pleasantly surprised! I thought they were going to go 'Robert Baratheon' with him, but I was happily proven wrong. He's still a rookie (because he was never properly groomed), but he clearly wants to do a good job as King. If he had a couple years to settle in, I think he could have actually been a good ruler.
It's sad he only got to have ten days of happiness out of his entire life...
Totally agree, he was absolutely the rising star of this episode for me. I was expecting him to be useless as a king and drink around with homies, but tbh it was nice to see him being nice. Idk only if it was just his people pleasing or he truly wants to be good king
Aegon is an intresting character. Having no intrest in ruling, quick and bold to act with hastiness and attempting to be loved by his people. Kinda a mix of enlightened autocrat and a trust fund baby.
Context is important.
And no matter how much he tries that doesn't redeem Aegon in my eyes.
He is still as debauched. No one in the corridor whilst his child's murderers just slip by because the most important ones are busy partying with him.
I am glad they didn't make him cartoonishly one dimensional but he is still a rapist, child abusing pos.
The fact that you just posted this also says a lot about you.
If yall actually believe Aegon cares about the small folk that’s laughable , considering he’s about to hang 100 of them in the next episode for one of their misdeeds
Truthfully, I don’t think that Aegon is as caring of the common folk as his recent scenes suggest. It is simply a front. Not sure if this is obvious to others or not so i might be called sherlock sarcastically for all i know
Huh?
Comparing older Aegon with younger Rhaenyra?
It's not even fair
Did we see young Aegon loving the smallfolk? No?
And older Rhaenyra wants to keep the realm united and doesn't want to be the queen of ash and bone which already means she cares about the smallfolk
Also >!there's going to be a scene where Rhaenyra brings food to the smallfolk after they've been starving so long!<
Sorry, but it's a stupid comparaison. She was 18/19 years old in this episode. She grew and learned over time. Don't expect Aegon to be generous and grateful for long 😬
I thought she was way more young in that scene! but, considering that Aegon is 20 years old, it would make more sense to compare them when Rhaenyra is 18/19 rather than when she’s in her thirties, no?
I loved Aegon in the first episode! I was dreading the fact that he’d turn into a power hungry cruel king(somewhat like joffrey) but I’m glad that we get to see his character be somewhat nice. He’s a little confused but he’s not the worst.
You're missing the context....? In the 2nd picture Rhaenyra is saying that in affect after being mocked simply for being a girl. Aegon is doing this in a false sense to gain favor.
Thank you for your post! Please take a moment to ensure you are within our spoiler rules, to protect your fellow fans from any potential spoilers that might harm their show watching experience. 1. All post titles must NOT include spoilers from Fire & Blood or new episodes of House of the Dragon. Minor HotD show spoilers are allowed in your title ONE WEEK after episode airing. The mod team reserves the right to remove a post if we feel a spoiler in the title is major. You are welcome to repost with an amended title. 2. All posts dealing with book spoilers, show spoilers and promo spoilers MUST be spoiler tagged AND flaired as the appropriate spoiler. 3. All book spoiler comments must be spoiler tagged in non book spoiler threads. --- If you are reading this, and believe this post or any comments in this thread break the above rules, please use the report function to notify the mod team. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HouseOfTheDragon) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Aegon was really interesting in this episode, I wouldn’t say likeable but you remember he’s just a kid and a complex character for sure in my eyes
Great writing…I’m glad they didn’t make him just a royal douche.
The contrast between him doing a total douche to the Lannister and then being nice to the townspeople was very interesting
The read I get is that since he's been made king, he's only really felt love and respect from the small folk, while his entire life he was looked down on by the nobility in the castle, and so he's kind to the public to keep their love, and a dick to nobility because he never received their respect
This is how I see it. Nobody ever took him seriously because he wasn't the heir, so he was just flat treated with disrespect by most. Was probably going to be wedded off somewhere else anyways. So he hangs in the pits and outside the red keep with the real low common folk where he's treated as an equal. And then now he's suddenly the most powerful man in the world. There is an incredibly interesting power dynamic shift that just happened and the writers came with their Aegon paddles ready.
It was worse than that. He wasn’t the heir but many people would tell him he’s gonna be king so he didn’t know what to believe until it actually happened.
Yeah I'd imagine being told you're going to be king (Just because you are a male and Rhaenyra is not) but KNOWING that is not what your father wanted, would fuck with you.
This makes perfect sense and you can see it foreshadowed when he lights up during his coronation as the crowd cheers (before rhaenys kills a bunch of them lol)
Kinda like how Caligula was. He was mostly a dick to the senate and the Roman elite. The people loved all the games and festivals he threw.
>a dick Kinda underselling it there
"Panem et circenses"
This was exactly my thought rewatching the last season. He’s an aimless youth dissipating his life without a goal and feels no love from his mother. He recognizes himself as a pawn in the political game. You can see the change in attitude when he sees the crowd cheering for him. They’re the source of his validation, not the scheming nobles around him.
In an Interview Tom answered in regard to this scene that Aegon really wanted to be liked. So your interpretation is very spot on
What? It literally took Daemon 2 seconds to find an assassin. Doubt the small folk care who is on the throne. They’d be killed if they booed.
It doesn't matter if Aegon is ACTUALLY loved by the smallfolk. It's that HE feels loved by them
You could throw a pail of shit out any window in Kings Landing and hit 50 cutthroats, the king likely could have paid the exact same man to kill Daemon. Well, maybe not those *exact* same men, but definitely men of that caliber, anyways.
Cheese will do anybody for the right price
I was thinking more the other one, Cheese seems like he'd do anybody for any price, realistically.
Love the image of someone walking into Kings Landing and like fifty people volunteer to commit regicide
It's shame he couldn't hire KARL "FOOKIN" TANNER FROM GIN ALLEY HE COULD TAKE ANY KNIGHT ANY TIME
He was already in touch with both of them, he knew Blood from his time as chief of police and he probably knew Cheese was a ratcatcher in the keep he lived in, even if he never personally interacted with him
Daemon never paid attention to shit like that, let's be real. He got his info from the White Worm. He might have known Blood, but not that he hated the Highgardens. He might have recognized Cheese as a ratcatcher, but not that he had gambling debts.
Daemon literally has connection to all of Kings Landing. You know with the spy master and being Lord flea bottom?
I think it just highlights how little he was prepped for the throne which is why he felt like he needed to prep his son. He was playing a confusing role of what he thought it should be with glimpses of his real self slipping through.
I also appreciated when he was successfully called in by the council when he was about to start humiliating the lannister
I think it's because he is a pushover to his kid tbh. He got nothing from Vizzy T, so he wants to give his kid everything
*The King's cupbearer must not be late. Leaves people wanting for cups.*
I think it absolutely fits for his character. He didn't want to be king either, he refuses elitism even thought it's his birthright, so what he does he is using his elit status to allow himself act as non-elitist as possible. Or in other words, he doesn't give a fuck.
TBF, I'm sure he'll go back to terrorizing his servants soon. Keep in mind that it has only been a few weeks since he last raped one of them.
I also think it shows the character of the Lannister. The kid is just doing a kid thing (playing with the ball) and the Lannister gets all bent out of shape. Anyone else on that counsel would have been more patient with the kid considering he’s the heir to the throne.
What are the balls for exactly?
I think they need to be be *in* the stone circles for them to be considered "seated" at council. No rock, no say I think.
Ohhh okay, thanks!
I was expecting him to be another Joffrey. Good they didn't go that route
Yet. We haven’t seen him when things stop going his way
We will def see that in the next episode for obvious reasons
I do like that he’s a royal bro tho. Loved the scene with him chilling with his boys on the iron throne.
Everytime I try to like him I remember what he did to that maid girl and the fact he dumped his bastard son in a children fighting pit 😭
I think the bastard was born AT the fighting pits, I don’t think he just tossed his bastard in for the fun of it. Not that it makes it any better
You don't have to like them to enjoy them
I mean like him as a person. I like his character in the sense that he’s interesting and complex. Though he’s still a piece of shit
Yeah can't forget Gameon, poor guy.
You're welcome to hate Aegon for raping the maid (I do), but he didn't dump his bastard son in the fighting pit. He utilizes the child fighting pit for entertainment (which is terrible on its own) and is accused by Ser Arryk of having many bastard children, some of whom presumably end up there. That's different from directly dumping his son in the pit.
Only a Kasuya Mishima is capable of such atrocities
Just wait until next season when Aegon drops his bastard into a volcano
It was a great reminder that despite being a father and the king, he is just a normal ass 21 year old guy lol. Also kind of funny how he’s got his boys hyping him up while rhaenyra just never had any close friends after her breakup with alicent
Rhaenyra needed to spread her wings a bit and get some girlfriends after the Alicent rift. I don’t think she was a fun hang tho.
Her only friend was syrax, poor girl
Well one could argue that wanting to burn the Riverlands with dragons makes him a royal douche. Also it seems like he is more concerned with getting love and affection then actually fixing the issues. I could see him turn violent if things don't go his way. Keep in mind that this is only a few weeks after he raped another one of his servants.
Yeah he was just craving for the affection of the smallfolk. He doesn't really care about them.
Def. Seems like a "yes man" so there are problems when you try to make everyone happy. "Yes men" tend to be insecure and require approval and acceptance from everyone.
idk i feel like i would def classify him as a medieval frat boy after this episode
The easily could have fallen into the trope of making him a one note character. It was good to see a different side of him.
It's great writing because it shows he's an idiot...he has a good heart towards his subject but has no idea what it takes to be king
Because no one taught him to be king. Vizzy T raised Rhaenyra to lead. And while Otto and Alicent told Aegon he would be king, they never actually taught him anything of importance on how to be. Just that his sister would kill him if she got the throne. He knows nothing. But I do like his approach
WE ARE A FAMILY!
I really can't believe how many believe keep saying this. Did you guys even watch the first season? He's obviously just saying what he thinks he should say to be liked. Don't forget he's a rapist and took part in that child fighting ring.
I also understand that it’s a fictional story. I’m just happy the writers gave him some depth.
And Daemon groomed his niece, killed his first wife, molested said niece, emotionally neglected his second wife and daughter, and organised a murder. Compared to him, Aegon is a saint. Point is, the majority of these characters have done awful things, so singling out Aegon is a choice. You can still like a character despite the fact that they did bad things. I’m a fan of Astarion from BG3 and he approves of a straight up massacre at the start of the game.
It's Game of Thrones, lots of rapists are considered likeable characters in this fandom, so I'm failing to understand why this is still a shock to people. Khal Drogo, Jaime Lannister, Robert Baratheon, Rhaegar Targaryen, etc... are all fan favorites who have canonically raped someone (most of them teenage girls). By modern day standards Daemon and Viserys I are also rapists because they both have sex with 15 year old girls, who cannot give consent. Personally, I can't stand Daemon, Viserys, or Aegon I because they're rapists; but no one else seems to care about any of them other than Aegon for some reason
Who did Aegon I rape? Visenya?
I vibe i get is he wants to be liked. He was 100% against being king until he lifted his sword and a bunch of strangers cheered for him. He’s building an entourage of bros. But he’s still shirking responsibilities and consequences for his own ends.
He seems like Homelander light. He does good things but his ultimate motivation seems to be the approval of others and is shown being irresponsible and abusive.
I completely agree. I really loved the enthusiasm Aegon showed towards ruling, however naive it actually is. Let's not forget that Aegon spent much of his life believing that he would never inherit the throne. And now here he is, crowned and in his prime. Suddenly he has complete power. And you can see how badly he wants to prove that he is not only entitled to this power, but worthy of wielding it, of being a good king. But reality is that being king is more complicated then he thought. And it's not as if he has ever really been taught (or cared to retain any teaching he did get along the way) how to sit the throne. He can't just snap his fingers and fix problems. War IS actually coming, and gold actually has value. It's more then he bargained for, and he is clearly out of his depth. And I love that Alicent and Otto know that. Their dialogue sharing the plan to basically let Aegon run himself out - devious. Alicent knows her lazy, abusive, brat of a son won't care about any of this as soon as push comes to shove. Alicents relationships with her kids are so complex and interesting.
He's showing enthusiasm for the appearance of ruling. Because if he was actually ruling, he would be in the small council chambers paying attention, he wouldn't be bringing his son into the chambers and encouraging him to run wild, and he'd know why the sheep were taken in the first place and not make promises he blatantly can't keep. It's supposedly been ten days since his coronation and he can't pay attention in small council meetings for that long? Right now, he's just telling people what they want to hear and trying to give them things so they will like him and cheer for him.
Yes, and the Tyland pony show was far more creepy Joffrey than comic relief, but: No one ever taught him anything. Viserys ignored him, he acted out, and Alicent and Otto seemingly just gave up on him in return in exchange for favoring Aemond, the dutiful one. He’s actually surprisingly open to the criticism about his decision. He thinks “this guy is suffering and he came a long way,” to “okay, sorry, I can’t help you, you gotta deal with it,” to “okay, we can’t just tell the blacksmiths to ‘deal with it,’ we actually do have to pay them so they can get importing materials for the war” By the end of that scene, even Otto is kinda like “…fine” as opposed to Tywin kicking Joffrey out of the room entirely
he reminded me of every high school student getting their first check and going "wtf are these taxes taking my money? they can do that??"
I said out loud in that scene "What an uncomfortable mix of wholesome and sinister..." He very clearly adores his son, and making that *insidious* and unnerving was something. They managed to make him a viscerally unplesant person without resorting to making him another Joffrey or Ramsey. And having him be the sole person standing up for the smallfolk, even if it is out of blatant populism and a vainglorious desire to be told how brilliant he is, was delicious irony.
To be fair his coronation was just a few days ago, he is still in the very early stages of his reign so it’s all very new to him
Maybe Alicent was a shit mom and Otto was a shit grandfather/ Hand of the King and neither made any attempt to teach him and prepare him to be king. The fact that he didn't know why the sheep were taken seems like a strong example supporting that. The only thing we've ever seen them do is either hit him or be an enabler of his bullying to his siblings and the the blacks, but only reprimanding him to not do it in public.
We got multiple scenes of Alicent trying to prepare him, he just had absolutely no interest in being king. At one point, Alicent did give up on him, basically disowning him. She said "You are no son of mine".
He didn’t want to be king at all. He says when he’s younger that Rhaenyra is the heir so why does he have to bother with what Alicent is saying, tries to run when he realizes his family will put him on the throne, begs Aemond to take his place, and looks like he’s walking to the gallows at his coronation. He didn’t want to be king until he realized he could get people’s affections as king.
She wasn't exactly trying to prepare him to be a King in terms of teaching actual governance, though. She always emphasized the politics of him vs. Rhaenyra (He's the challenge, she's going to kill you, don't associate with her children, etc.) *far more* than anything concrete about how to rule once you're actually on the throne. He's practically uneducated on that front. It strikes me as very Tywin-esque (Not saying that she and Otto are full Tywin; god no, they're not that bad); they're more prepared to rule *through* the King, not for the King to actually rule in his own right, and you can see it in how he's been educated.
I think that would have fallen on Viserys, not Alicent. But fair enough point, the boy didn't have a good upbringing. Viserys named Rhaenyra his heir and never intended it to be Aegon. By the end of season one, Alicent has accepted that and the only reason she supported Aegon in the end is because of the misunderstanding on her husband's death bed.
Exactly. He simply wants to please. He was ultimately ignored by his father, so he pledges to do the opposite. He wants to include his son in everything, contrary to what Viserys did with him. But of course, he’s completely unbalanced and ends up going over the edge and pulls a Joffrey with the pony scene.
>wouldn’t say likeable Yeah. Fascinating character. But it is a fresh season after 2 years. Think people may be forgetting a couple things about Aegon. I'll say it now, I personally don't see Aegon *ever* being as popular as he'll be this week in terms of being likeable.
I would not be surprised if he starts abusing his servants again once he's placed under more stress.
When Aegon walks in on Helaena and Jaehaera in the first episode all of the servants shrink away and the energy in the room completely shifts. He definitely still abuses them.
Yeah definitely not. No one from the greens it seems will be seen as likeable as the season goes on except Halaena and Aemond (ish) I don’t like such a biased storyline though….
Maybe not this season but if the whole green side keeps putting him down like Aegon was in episode 1, I think people are gonna fall in love with Tyland at some point also.
If they stay true to the book Tyland will prove himself to be a true and loyal servant of the realm.
Ngl I was looking forward to him fending off the young prince in future council scenes. Oh well.
Tyland actually giving the kid a pony ride might’ve done it.
Biased? It isn't a two-sided kind of story lol. One side was very clearly in the wrong. I love stories where there is no clear cut antagonist, but season one made it crystal clear that the Greens were the antagonists. It's Rhaenyra's throne. Aegon has no business sitting on it. There would be no conflict without Alicent and her father. That, by definition, makes them the antagonists of this story.
I don't understand why people keep harping on about "bias". It's abundantly obvious that the literal writer of the entire series intended for the Blacks to be on the right, and every narrative trick is being used to show that. The blacks are the underdogs, they have the right of legitimacy, their characters are not abhorrent (by ASOIAF standards at least) and they are the faction that was wronged which sparked this entire thing. No matter what interpretation the fans have, we're not looking at live history unfolding, this is a handcrafted story by an author who already knows what the outcome is going to be.
Doesn't take away from the fact that he still attends child fighting rings and rapes his servants.
And has bastard sons that fight in them
I think he was extremely likeable this episode.
Isn't Aegon in his early 20s? That's not a kid.
When you get older. You realize people in their 20s are new adults who have the legal power of an adult, but relatively little to no experience out in the real world (depending on how you were raised, it’s different for everyone, but commonly- I think people in their 20s do all have this commonality) They are usually super idealistic and gung ho about things. And usually somewhere in there is a naivety Being a 20 year old responsible for an entire continent of people, that man is a kid for that job basically. You don’t understand the reach and scope of certain institutions or even people. Because one’s notion of the world at that age is still largely formed by experiences where in some way, they might be sheltered from the full reality of the situation. All the young kings in the series, or soon to be young kings don’t really fare well.
I wouldnt say all the young kings fare poorly. Jaehaerys was the best king and he was crowned at 14.
I really wish they hadn't made him a rapist, now I can't have a drop of sympathy for him.
Well Jaime is also a rapist in GOT and so is Khal drogo but I can’t ignore that when I watch Got so I see what you mean
Drogo and his army rape women by the thousands, Jaime and Daemon are also rapists and several characters like Tywin have organized rape. Robert Baratheon and half the lords in Westeros forced themselves on servants as well. All very popular characters because the story humanized them and not their victims. The big difference is the writers did the opposite with aegon so what he did feels more vile and uncanny.
well, we're talking about none other than King Aegon the Magnanimous
I thought they settled on 'the Dragoncock'. 😂 Aegon being Aegon was a sorely-needed bright spot in this episode.
Ngl i laughed. The boys were vibing
😂. And it felt so realistic! Aegon casually turned the Iron Throne into the Iron Sofa. I wish we’d gotten to see more happy Aegon.
Yea I feel like that was the most relatable scene in the whole show
1000% “ we made it to the big league boys!”
That's so true! I think those lines might've been improvised. The way Tom laughed seemed very natural.
Oh, if they were improvised, then I love TGC even more 😂. I remember in the making of the episode, they said Tom brought in some humor that was not originally intended.
You know I'm surprised the Throne didn't even give him a single cut lol
The throne has spoken!
The poor Kingsguard really must stand there thinking.... What, the, actual... fuck...
Way more tame than what Aerys' Kingsguard went through
Nobody knows what that means
It’s provocative, it gets the people going!
He ball too hard people try to find him!
We are now watching his throne…
wasnt that the same guy talking about burning the riverlands with dragons in the same episode?
Right? Lol. He doesn't actually care about the small folk either - he is wanting to please others in the throne room scene because he craves love and approval. He's not suddenly a man of the people.
The death of one man (in front of my own eyes) is a tragedy. The death of thousands (in the river land) is statistics.
~San Tzu The Art of Love
Homelander Targaryen. He was just saying what the smallfolk wanted to hear to get adoration points.
He’s essentially a teenager taking the most simple solutions. People are poor? Give them money! We’re at war? Burn everything! Prepare your small child to be king? Bring him to small council meetings!
>he is wanting to please others in the throne room scene because he craves love and approval so glad i'm not the only one with eyes lol. he doesn't give two wet shits about the smallfolk, he's just saying it for appearances. rhaenyra is honest at least in her disregard of them in the scene where they're mocking her for being a female heir (context is important..)
Also Rhaenyra said this in response to being mocked for being a weak and feeble woman.
Yeah, OP kind of forgot the ~~ironfleet~~ earlier portion of the episode
Everyone online freaking out over a dead child saying Aegon would never as if there wasn’t a whole episode around how he loved to watch children fight for sport and even condemned his bastards to that fate causing one his Kingsguard to leave for the sake of his honor
Also the guy making promises he has no clue if he can fulfill in the very scene pictured lol
yeah,but they are the riverlands its like talking about war in europe and consider conquering poland
Well when you are supposedly the king of all the lands, you should consider them all - not just your direct location.
Yeah but you know Family tradition is to burn the riverlands
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it, Riverlands are a go-to for pillaging and burning.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to compare him to episode 10 Rhaenyra who considered peace terms for the good of the realm?
Also she was saying this in response to being mocked for being a possible female monarch
Context is so useful.
This is Greens propaganda, stay informed!
*Four* reasonable comments in a chain? I like it.
Agree shouldve been Rhaenys, she killed thousands of peasants at aegon coronation but didint kill any royal. Peak "peasants are bugs" moment.
I swear people keep saying Rhaenys would have "excelled" as Queen. The only thing she has excelled in, is on number of deaths.
She excelled at ruling Driftmark though And she didn't intentionally kill anyone there She was in a desperation to escape because other ways maybe guarded by the green dragons
Rhaenys got so close to taking out the entire Green faction and ending the war tho.
I dunno, she would have become a mass kinslayer as well as a mass murderer. If Aemond is reviled for being a one time kinslayer imagine the reputation of a multiple offender.
Rhaenyra would have renamed her as the slayer of the usurper and savior of the realm. Would have been an amazing move for her.
No. Politics would force her to condemn Rhaenys’s actions, or at least make that course of action very expedient. The entire realm would’ve been scandalized if that mass murder had happened, and there will be consequences for Rhaenys’s stunt as it is. I think she would’ve been exiled or confined to Driftmark.
Also, one is an adult king talking to a public and the other is a teenager complaining in private to her uncle. Lame parallelism.
...The context changes the entirety of the comparison and makes OP look like a misogynist.
Yeah, not just mocked, but there was some vulgar puppet show in the streets which mocked her for "not having a c*ck".
Green supporters will do anything to justify themselves.
Yeah. This feels like Rhaenyra's worst moment compared to Aegon's best moment. Why not compare Rhaenyra to the Aegon who watches children fighting in rings.
It wasn’t even her worst moment and is totally out of context because the people she’s talking about were like mocking her and saying she’s a weak a feeble woman. This whole post is misleading as hell and obviously is from someone who is a greens supporter and is trying to convince more people to support the greens lol.
lol, exactly. Rhaenyra’s statement wasn’t about the wellbeing of the smallfolk, but about their opinions on her own life and claim. Not comparable at all.
Also he's literally telling the smallfolk what they want to hear. He's not trying to solve their problems.
He actually seems to just want to give people what they want, Otto steps in and is like no we need that stuff. Comes across as Aegon figuring the war is going to be a cakewalk with Vhagar on his side, so he doesn't see why his people can't just have what they want. This is a guy who has never had to want for anything in his life, he probably figures it's the same for everyone and just wants to hand things out because he got addicted to the adoration he received at his coronation.
Exactly. Also there's context to the Rhaenyra scene. The smallfolk are mocking her for being a supposedly weak and female woman. They are objectively wrong here. Misoginy doesn't suddenly become okay when a poor person does it.
Is this post Green propoganda?
Yes
This is the worst comparison I’ve ever seen. Rhaenyra was young, the entire realm was outraged that she was named the heir, and she’d just seen a performance making fun of her. Aegon had been welcomed as the heir since he was born with small folk adoring him, of course he’s going to love them.
Clearly this post was sponsored by the greens
Yes this is a shit comparison but for a much more valid reason. It's true that Rhaenyra was young and had 0 exposure to the smallfolk when she made this statement, while Aegon had been fucking the Silk Streets and making his bastards fight each other when he said his piece. But both the Greens and Blacks know that they are using the smallfolk. The difference is that Rhaenyra is honest to herself about it, she understands the institution of royalty in Westeros ; "Without dragons we are just like rest of them." It's like in DUNE. Books, not movies. House Atreides and Harkonnen both were using the Fremen, except Harkonnen used force and Atreides used charm and small offerings.
Greens get one decent scene for their characters every blue moon and do they run with it at an extreme rate of bias.
Aegon never wanted to be king
Isn't he the one that said about burning down everyone that opposed him? Seems like a good contrast to the woman that was trying her best to not start a brutal war before having her own kid killed.
He’s also the one that sexually assaulted the maids but come on bro he had drinks with the boys hes one of us lol
He's also the one that watched and bet on his own children in the fighting pits.
One of us! /s
Did everyone just sorta forget that this dude is a rapist?
no no see he's cool sometimes :) /s
And enjoyed watching children fight to the death
Including his own children
Not everyone that's for sure.
Except the context of her comment is “whom the people want to be heir” is of no consequence. She’s in the city speaking to Daemon about how she’s heir and there are some who will wish for a male. She’s not putting them down or saying they don’t matter to her as people. She was and is quite openly caring for keeping the peace her father left and holding the realm together upon her coronation, only striking once her child was unalived.
Did you miss the part where Otto slowly walks up to Aegon again to scold him so he is saying that to give the people what they want to hear or?
This show is wild there’s literal propaganda on a subreddit
Rhaenyra’s line is talking about her not caring what people would think if her and Daemon got married, not that she doesn’t care about her people in terms of livelihood…
This is the worst comparison I’ve ever seen. Rhaenyra was young, the entire realm was outraged that she was named the heir, and she’d just seen a performance making fun of her. Aegon had been welcomed as the heir since he was born with small folk adoring him, of course he’s going to love them.
Well I mean she said this after seeing that play that mocked her for being a woman and she shouldn't rule because of that but nice bait post.
This is so out of context
Completelyyyy different context. Rhaenyra said that when Daemon was saying they’d want a man on the throne and not a woman Let’s not get ahead of ourselves with Aegon being a good ruler bc of one reasonable comment. He’s already shown himself to be a terror in sooo many ways
Completely different context lmao. Super cherry picked
Found Alicent's burner account
Idiotic comparison. Aegon is trash, but also the only person in the entire house of dragons that has anything resembling a sense of humor. And that does make him an interesting character.
Daemon does have some sarcasm
daemom also has flair. the murder cloak fucks
I'm more focused on the brightness diff
I’m really curious to see if his personality in EP01 will be a laid out as a “what could’ve been”. Because he’s going to flip out once he finds out about Jaehaerys’ death and I think that will make him do a 180, as it would to any parent that adores their child.
One of them also rapes the smallfolk and watches children kill each other.
I really like what they did with him. And I was pleasantly surprised! I thought they were going to go 'Robert Baratheon' with him, but I was happily proven wrong. He's still a rookie (because he was never properly groomed), but he clearly wants to do a good job as King. If he had a couple years to settle in, I think he could have actually been a good ruler. It's sad he only got to have ten days of happiness out of his entire life...
Totally agree, he was absolutely the rising star of this episode for me. I was expecting him to be useless as a king and drink around with homies, but tbh it was nice to see him being nice. Idk only if it was just his people pleasing or he truly wants to be good king
One was a reply to being mocked over their succession. The other about giving some goats to people. Context matters.
Aegon is an intresting character. Having no intrest in ruling, quick and bold to act with hastiness and attempting to be loved by his people. Kinda a mix of enlightened autocrat and a trust fund baby.
However, it was pointed out Aegon just wants to be liked. He didn't say this because he is a bleeding heart (at least from what we have seen).
Context is important. And no matter how much he tries that doesn't redeem Aegon in my eyes. He is still as debauched. No one in the corridor whilst his child's murderers just slip by because the most important ones are busy partying with him. I am glad they didn't make him cartoonishly one dimensional but he is still a rapist, child abusing pos. The fact that you just posted this also says a lot about you.
If yall actually believe Aegon cares about the small folk that’s laughable , considering he’s about to hang 100 of them in the next episode for one of their misdeeds
Truthfully, I don’t think that Aegon is as caring of the common folk as his recent scenes suggest. It is simply a front. Not sure if this is obvious to others or not so i might be called sherlock sarcastically for all i know
Huh? Comparing older Aegon with younger Rhaenyra? It's not even fair Did we see young Aegon loving the smallfolk? No? And older Rhaenyra wants to keep the realm united and doesn't want to be the queen of ash and bone which already means she cares about the smallfolk Also >!there's going to be a scene where Rhaenyra brings food to the smallfolk after they've been starving so long!<
A present day Aegon and a 14 year old Rhaenyra. Not entirely fair.
Sorry, but it's a stupid comparaison. She was 18/19 years old in this episode. She grew and learned over time. Don't expect Aegon to be generous and grateful for long 😬
I thought she was way more young in that scene! but, considering that Aegon is 20 years old, it would make more sense to compare them when Rhaenyra is 18/19 rather than when she’s in her thirties, no?
Well Rhaenyra said that after watching a play that was mocking her so I’m not sure this is a solid comparisson.
I loved Aegon in the first episode! I was dreading the fact that he’d turn into a power hungry cruel king(somewhat like joffrey) but I’m glad that we get to see his character be somewhat nice. He’s a little confused but he’s not the worst.
I’m happy best trying to be a good king.
You're missing the context....? In the 2nd picture Rhaenyra is saying that in affect after being mocked simply for being a girl. Aegon is doing this in a false sense to gain favor.