Okay that thing that Tumblr does in hiding the tags under a See All is usually helpful, except when I’m being precious in the tags and I want validation. Like, look, I understand why you’re doing it, but I’m also quite proud of the thought of Baelor Breakspear giving his dragon a secret Dornish name and Maekar kinda sorta nodding at him in vague approval because he’s a shit who went and married a Dornishwoman when Westerosi racism was at an all-time high. What can I say, I like the thought of Mariah’s boys giving the realm a silent middle finger.
This ask is officially older than dirt. Nevertheless.
There are a few variables here that could leave a print on the Targrayen dynasty and change the entire narrative, the most important of which is how the dragons hatched and if that process could be repeated. The return of the dragons in canon was due to a one-off magical event that aligned several factors that are almost impossible to replicate but while Rhaella’s dragon could very well hatch as a result of whatever magic was done at Summerhall, making for another magical event that can not be replicated, Baelor Breakspear did not encounter any such magical event to attribute a dragon hatching to. The relevance here lies in the possibility of finding a viable way to hatch dragons and how that could change the entire narrative irrevocably. There’s also the question of how only one egg hatched during whatever attempt took place, the question of the person of the king whose reign witnesses that miraculous return and what is bound to be vastly different reactions personally and politically.
Putting that aside for now, a dragon means changes on two fronts: the political and the magical. For Baelor, the political angle is intrinsically tied with the Blackfyre rebellions. The first thing that springs to mind here is how difficult it would be for Daemon to sell his Daeron Falseborn narrative with his brother’s line possessing such a visible sign of legitimacy. Mind you, Daemon’s narrative was that Daeron II was the bastard son of Prince Aemon the Dragonknight and Queen Naerys, both Valyrian-blooded on both sides and thus entirely capable of producing a dragon-riding line because dragons don’t care about bastardy, but for better or for worse, dragons were seen as a sign of legitimacy as we’ve seen in how the dragon-riding ability of Rhaenyra’s Velaryon sons was used as an argument for their legitimacy. Certainly, it would be exceptionally difficult for Daemon to argue that Daeron had usurped the throne when it’s his line that was blessed by the return of the dragons, or so the people might say. Indeed, Baelor’s possession of a dragon after a few decades of them dying and after several kings attempted everything from sorcery to prayer could be regarded as a sign of the gods to prove Daeron’s right to the throne, in the same way that the gods have proven Queen Naerys’ innocence of charges of infidelity and treason, disappointing Aegon IV’s ardent efforts to discredit and disinherit Daeron by casting shadow on Queen Naerys’ fidelity. That the gods exonerated Naerys and then bestowed the ultimate sign of Targaryen-ness on Daeron’s line is a tough public narrative to argue against. Politically, the sword Blackfyre had such weight in painting Daemon as the heir to the Conqueror’s kingdom, so imagine what an actual living dragon would do to frame Daeron’s line as the true heirs to the dragon-riding legacy of the Targaryens. Daemon might bear the sword but Baelor held the most visible sign of Targaryen-ness there was, one that is
intrinsically
tied with the forming of the monarchy and the throne Daemon was trying to claim since it was dragons that formed Aegon the Conqueror’s kingdom and throne. Any half-effective PR campaign from the crown could directly tie Baelor Breakspear, already a hailed warrior known for his chivalry and martial prowess, to his dragon-riding ancestors in the eyes of the nobility. As far as symbol politics go, strike one for Team Red Dragon.
While that does not mean that the Blackfyre rebellions won’t happen (Bittersteel and Fireball still have a strong personal incentive to push Daemon to rebel, and the nobility was still smouldering over Daeron’s favoring of Dorne), it would certainly hurt Daemon’s cause and the striking figure he cut as the King Who Bore The Sword, especially if Baelor rode his dragon to the Redgrass Field (which would tip the power scale dramatically towards the red dragon, instead of the royals only triumphing by the skin of their teeth) and the image of the crown prince riding a dragon overhead brought to mind the Conqueror and the Field of Fire. How well would that undercut the future rebellions is speculative but I imagine it would, to an extent at least: Bittersteel wouldn’t back down even for dragons, but the Westerosi support for the Blackfyres might dwindle much faster than IOTL, especially since dragons have long lives and thus Baelor’s would probably bond with another Targaryen after her rider’s death and continue to be an unmatched advantage for the ruling Targaryens. I suspect that Westeros would still see, at least, the second and third rebellions, as the presence of one living dragon would enforce Daemon the Dreamer’s belief that a dragon would hatch for him at Whitewalls, and Bloodraven’s police state and the mounting displeasure with the ineffectiveness of Aerys I’s rule and his abandonment of feudal obligations would drive nobles to the Black Dragon’s banner. How things might progress from there, though, would largely depend on the fate of Bittersteel and just how much dragonflame cripple his army.
Now, the return of the dragons also affects the long-term political presence of the Targaryens. The ruling dynasty’s power was significantly reduced after the death of the dragons and continued to weaken as the years went by and the practices of several monarchs alienated the nobility till the War of the Ninepenny Kings made it clear to the nobles that the power are in their hands now rather than the monarchy. A dragon in the mix shifts the balance of power back towards the Targaryens, though as the example of the smallfolk riots during the Dance of the Dragons showed, it might not be enough to quell the discontent brought on by first Aerys I and Bloodraven’s policies, then Aegon V’s pro-smallfolk reforms that bred discontent among the nobles and that, in the presence of draconian power on the side of the monarchy, would be steadily pushed and enforced despite their objections, as Aegon thought that having dragons would give him the power to enact his reforms.
In short, with the long life span of dragons and the possibility of them accepting other riders after their original rider dies, Baelor’s dragon could survive and even have a rider all the way through Aerys II’s rule, resulting in a different-looking realm and a completely different balance of power within the Seven Kingdoms. But that does not only rest on the presence of a dragon, but also on the identity of her rider. Baelor was truly the greatest crown prince the Targaryen dynasty had ever had, and had the potential of being one of the best kings if he hadn’t been cut down in Ashford, but the royal family was rife with people ill-suited for the power of being a dragon-rider. Imagine if Aerion the Monstrous had a dragon under his control, or if Bloodraven’s police state and his Blackfyre tunnel-vision was supported by his dominion over a dragon, or if Aerys I’s negligence was underlined by his failure to utilize his draconic power to protect his vassals, or if Aerys II’s madness and fascination with fire was served by a dragon. Dragons were double-edged swords to the Targaryen dynasty, “the grief and glory of [House Targaryen]” in Maester Aemon’s words. They bring undisputed power but also an easy potential to abuse it for personal gain. They are weapons of mass destruction that can be devastating in the wrong hands, that have been devastating to the realm in the hands of the like of Maegor the Cruel, Aegon II, and Rhaenyra. As the uprising against Maegor, and the storming of the Dragonpit during the Dance of the Dragons demonstrated, dragons can easily bring the downfall of a monarch who abused them as much as they can be utilized to prop royal policies. Not every Targaryen king was of the caliber of Jaehaerys I or Daeron II or Viserys II, people who wanted to reform and benefit the realm; in the wrong hands, dragons can incite rebellions instead.
Besides the political effect a dragon can bring, we can not ignore how that changes the belief in the prophecy among the Targaryens. The news of the return of the dragons had been foretold in the arcane texts Aerys I was fond of studying (probably the same texts great-great-grandnephew Rhaegar found that prompted him to become a warrior) long before the Ghost of High Heart made her prophecy of which line the savior prince would come from. With the dragons already returned as foretold, you have a dynasty with an entrenched belief and investment in that prophetic destiny even more than usual. That belief would only enforce Rhaegar’s obsession with the prophecy and if by any chance Baelor’s dragon was riderless at this point, you can bet everything that the wannabe Prince Who Was Promised would try to claim him for his own.
As for Rhaella, my scenario got a bit too ficcy, and not the fun kind since Aerys makes this a rather dark scenario. A dragon hatching from Summerhall would enforce the belief that the prophetic savior was really to be born of Rhaella’s line. To have dragons returning just a few years after the Ghost of High Heart gave her prophecy gives credence to her words, and since it’s almost certain that Jaehaerys II was aware of the prophecy about the return of the dragons, he’d take this as a confirmation of the identity of the savior. Rhaegar certainly would too, since the symbolism of a dragon emerging from the raging fires of Summerhall just as a little dragon was born to the Targaryens is too strong to ignore, which would only immerse him even more in his belief in the prophecy. The bad news is that it would annoy Aerys to no end that his sister-wife acquired a dragon and he did not (and really, that one dragon would hatch out of all the dragon eggs at Summerhall would be extremely odd, but I’m not about to give Aerys the chance to be a dragon rider) and that might spell bad news for Rhaella. As I’ve said before, Aerys’ animosity and suspicion of both Rhaegar and Tywin in OTL doesn’t seem to have been precipitated by anything either of them had done. It seems like they attracted his ire simply by gaining power that he felt threatened his own, a classic case of jealousy that others enjoyed some regard or standing that he felt belonged to him or that he thought rivaled or took away from his own. So for the sister-wife that he disliked to receive such a striking mark of distinction while he got nothing, I imagine he would not take too kindly to that. Unfortunately for Rhaella, her father died barely two years into his reign leaving Aerys as the king and no one to protect the newly made queen, and if Aerys could not control the dragon himself, he could control it through Rhaella by controlling her. Certainly, he’d crave that control more and more as his fascination with fire
grew, and that can only mean that his attempts to hatch the dragon eggs found at Dragonstone would increase, probably to the point of severity considering his deteriorating mental state particularly after the Defiance of Duskendale. An Aerys that had proof that long-fossilized eggs can hatch, and had a living dragon taunting him with its presence under the control of his sister-wife (and that would be enough for him to suspect Rhaella of conspiring with Rhaegar against him because of course she was) could easily go to some extreme measures to hatch the dragons, especially if he made the connection between a dragon hatching and blood magic. The chances of him causing a bloody catastrophe chasing dragons are high, and depending on the extent of his extremism, this could very well end up what causes a rebellion before Rhaegar pulls his stunt with Lyanna. Imagine how the lords would react if Aerys started burning people by the droves to hatch dragons, for example. The caches of wildfire under King’s Landing might come much sooner.
As for Elia’s Rhaenys, I do not see a scenario where a dragon bonds with her. Most of the remaining dragon eggs in Westeros were destroyed at Summerhall, and the only known clutch of eggs left was the one found on Dragonstone that Aerys tried to hatch (and the one sitting under Winterfell, if you believe that rumor, which I do. But no one in-universe does). Rhaenys simply had no way to bond with a dragon since the Targaryen tradition of putting a dragon egg in the cradle of little Targaryens had long ended, and grandpa the Mad King wouldn’t allow his “Dornish-smelling” granddaughter anywhere near a dragonite if he managed to actually hatch them, neither would Mama Elia because children below the age of three have no business going near a fire-breathing lizard, tyvm.
The lion motifs appear quite often in Daenerys’s chapters and seems to imply something. This is mainly in the form of hrakkar– the white lion pelt that she carries around.
Mostly, I’ve seen metas that this indicates that Dany will triumph over Lannisters or that this is a foreshadowing that Dany will be queen after Cersei or that she would be the downfall of Cersei. While all of this could be true, I don’t think that’s what the White Lion signifies, mainly because of the way the white lion pelt is described. It isn’t linked to vengeance or triumph. But rather, the white lion is linked to comfort.
Just look at these lines – they do not seem to give a sense of revenge or hatred:
It was Drogo who had given her the pelt she wore, the head and hide of a hrakkar, the white lion of the Dothraki sea. It was too big for her and had a musty smell, but it made her feel as if her sun-and-stars was still near her. – Daenerys, ADWD
The hrakkar pelt provides some sense of comfort for her. Look at the instances where she wears the White Lion pelt:
She wears it to hide her shorn head in the Red Waste:
her handmaids garbed her in the skin of the hrakkar Drogo had slain, the white lion of the Dothraki sea.Its fearsome head made a hood to cover her naked scalp, its pelt a cloak that flowed across her shoulders and down her back. – Dany, ACOK
It is also mentioned while she recovers from her walk through Red Waste. She wears it just after a bath over naked skin:
She wrapped herself in the lionskin. The hrakkarhad been much bigger than Dany, so the pelt covered everything that wanted covering. – Dany, ACOK
She is wearing the hrakkar when she enters Qarth:
Dany felt shoddy and barbaric as she rode past them in her lionskin robe with black Drogon on one shoulder. – Dany, ACOK
While taking Yunkai, Dany is too restless and wears the lion pelt after taking bath. She is talking with Ser Barristan about Rhaegar while wearing it.
Dany was too restless for sleep. […] When the old man came, she was curled up inside her hrakkar pelt, whose musty smell still reminded her of Drogo. […] Dany pulled the pelt tighter about her shoulders. […] Dany leapt to her feet, clutching the lion pelt. – Dany, ASOS
She wears it just after waking up in the middle of the night due to an assassination of an Unsullied. Again, she is undressed under the pelt.
“He died for me.” Dany clutched her lion pelt to her chest. Underneath, a sheer white linen tunic covered her to midthigh. – Daenerys, ADWD
She uses the white lion pelt almost as if a person would use a comfort blanket or a teddy bear!
So, the pelt:
is the whitelion of Dothraki sea
is too big for her
made her feel as if Khal Drogo is near her, a man who by her own words was “the one who made her a queen”
is a constant source of comfort for her during tumultuous times
is mostly worn over naked skin or while she’s about to sleep – a sign of vulnerability
is frequently linked with a dragon (Viserion and Drogon have sat on the pelt while Dany wore them; otherwise she is talking about House Targaryen or its members while wearing them)
Thematically, it doesn’t seem to point to Cersei in any manner!
So, what is the significance of the hrakkar pelt, which is mentioned so frequently?
Who else could be linked to the White Lion?
While most of us have given a lot of importance to “A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness” in the House of Undying visions – as a possible connection of love between Jon & Dany, there is one such similar sentence in HoTU visions which is overlooked constantly.
Other than the hrakkar pelt, White Lion is referenced with respect to Dany only in one instance – a vision in the House of the Undying:
A white lion ran through grass taller than a man. – Dany, ACOK
Hence, the white lion is linked to tallness by the phrase “taller than a man”.
Gee,I wonder who could be a white lion that is taller than a man that reminds Dany of someone who made a queen out of her?
Perhaps, Shae could help us:
“My lion,” she whispered when he broke off the kiss to undress. “My sweet lord, my giant of Lannister.” – Tyrion, ACOK
Or Maester Aemon:
“Oh, I think Lord Tyrion is quite a large man. I think he is a giant come among us, here at the end of the world.”
Or Varys:
“And ofttimes a very small man can cast a very large shadow.”
Or Moqorro:
“Dragons. Dragons old and young, true and false, bright and dark. And you. A small man with a big shadow, snarling in the midst of all.” – Tyrion, ADWD
Or perhaps, Tyrion himself might help us:
A lion, I must be a lion, live a lion, die a lion. – Tyrion, ACOK
He had dreamed enough for one small life. And of such follies: love, justice, friendship, glory. As well as dream of being tall. It was all beyond his reach, Tyrion knew now. – Tyrion, ADWD
What am I, if not a lion? – Tyrion, ADWD
The white lion that is helping Daenerys seems to foreshadow Tyrion rather than Cersei.
Also, isn’t it funny how a White Lion and a White Wolf might be the other two heads in “A dragon has three heads” prophecy?
Or Jon himself:
When he opened the door, the light from within threw his shadow clear across the yard, and for just a moment Tyrion Lannister stoodtallas a king. Jon I, AGOT)
I would love it if Dany would have to rely on and
possibly seek help from the “Usurper’s Dogs” in order to fulfil her goals; and also
vice versa. Hopefully, these three families who have hurt each other will have to “forgive
and forget” (at least in some measure) and unite, if they are to win against the
Others.
Though there is still a (slight) chance that White Lion
could be Jaime (due to his white Kingsguard’s cloak and YMBQ), I firmly think
that it is Tyrion because (of all the above stated reasons, and as you mentioned) :
“One green eye and one black
peered out from under a lank fall of
hair so blond it seemed white.” – Jon, AGOT
Also, Tyrion having an intrinsic thematic connection to
Cersei is so true! Not only is she his chief antagonist, she is also his family,
and in some manner represents his identity as a Lannister. One of the main
struggles that Tyrion will have to struggle with his identity as a Lannister
vs. his devotion to revenge/putting Dany on the throne.
On the one hand, Tyrion in ADWD is hoping to put Cersei’s
& Jaime’s heads on a pike, while on the other hand he is having nightmares
about killing Jaime. (Ugh. I am absolutely angry with how the show whitewashed
Jaime & Tyrion’s brotherhood – removing chief internal conflict &
character arc.) While Tyrion is a Lannister through and through, he is
always linked with dragons. This motif is more frequent and evident in ASOS &
ADWD – especially in scenes in which his actions are against his family’s
wishes. (I need to write about this, especially that weird dragon-skull sex
scene.)
I feel that all of this internal turmoil is perfectly captured in these thoughts of Tyrion about the Volantene slaves:
Do they yearn for freedom? he wondered. What would they do if this child queen bestowed it on them? What are
they, if not tigers? What am I, if not a lion? – Tyrion, ADWD
This is my most favourite quote on potential dynamics
between Dany and Tyrion.
Tyrion is talking about slaves being freed and is thinking
about himself as a lion in the very next sentence. He is perhaps equating the chains of a slave to the
chains that bind him to his family. And he is questioning whether the
slaves would be able to gain another identity if Dany frees them? (And wonders
in the same breath)Whether he would be
able to forge another identity if Dany frees him? Because – what is Tyrion, if not a lion?
Furthermore, Dany literally saves Tyrion from being mauled
to death by lions!
Dany was not pleased. “I forbid it. […] These dwarfs did not consent to battle lions with wooden swords.
You will stop it. Now.”
This is some very obvious symbolism, and it isn’t lost on
Tyrion, based on his thoughts:
Lions. They were going to set lions on us. It would have been
exquisitely ironic, that.
In short, I’m thirsty for TWOW just to see these two interact!
Well, as long as Shaera was alive and capable of having more children, there would be no reason to think that she would not be able to produce a male heir to continue the line after Jaehaerys (and indeed she’d be encouraged to have more children after Rhaella if possible). But in the absence of a male heir, the succession would be a matter for a Great Council to settle since this would irrevocably adjust the royal succession and change “the iron precedent” of the Great Council of 101 that doesn’t allow for the throne to pass to a woman or a male descendant of a woman. I imagine the Great Council would see descendants of Prince Maegor, if any exist, presenting a claim, alongside that of girl!Aerys and Steffon Baratheon, of course, and perhaps other lesser claims. In the matter of betrothals, it’s far more likely for Steffon to marry his princess cousin to consolidate Targaryen power and bind the two competing claims in a show of unity
between the two Targaryen-blooded lines, lest anyone think the crown
weakened by the lack of a male heir and open
to conspiracies and schemes, or susceptible to yet another civil war over succession.
As for Storm’s End, Steffon can always keep it for his second son, or, alternatively, he can pass it along to the descendants of his aunt, the Baratheon girl who was betrothed to Prince Duncan the Small.
Don’t let big name or tumblr famous blogs who get like 500000000000000 notes get you down or keep you from doing your thing.
Make your gifs.
Write your fic.
Post your artwork.
Share your poetry.
I guarantee you there’s someone out there that loves your gifs, loves seeing new fic from you, loves seeing new art from you, and loves reading new poetry from you.
So the fuck what if you don’t have 5 bajillion notes? I know a lot of people lurk on tumblr, or don’t have accounts, or don’t post much, so really for every 5 notes you get, there’s at least maybe double…. triple….. quadruple that, that are reading.
I know it’s frustrating, but keep doing your thing because there are people out there that love you and love your work. Never give up doing the things you love because you never know who’s watching that you might have an impact on. Your little blog might be the only thing that puts a smile on someone’s face.
Why would Rickard be any less ambitious if he only had girls? Or Hoster? I mean, the fact that Hoster secured his place in the SA bloc through Catelyn and Lysa should be enough to answer your question. As for Rickard, even if he only had girls, the alliance would still have Elbert Arryn, Edmure Tully and Robert Baratheon to work with. Marry Robert to either Eddara or Lyanna (at Jon Arryn’s behest because no Ned to make Robert especially interested in the Starks), Catelyn to Elbert Arryn, and perhaps girl!Benjen to Edmure, and the Baratheon-Stark-Tully-Arryn alliance is the same.
I don’t know enough about regencies and politics to give an educated/realistic answer so I’d suggest asking @moonlitgleek, @nobodysuspectsthebutterfly, or @goodqueenaly. But, since you did ask me, here’s my throwing-something-against-the-wall-and-hoping-it-sticks answer:
I don’t necessarily see Rhaella being chosen as regent, honestly, both because she’s a woman and because she’d be so young herself. 16 is the age of majority–she’d barely be old enough to not have a regent of her own (or whatever the equivalent was for women). As both the daughter of one king, the mother of another, the sister of the former crown prince, and a princess herself, she would of course have influence and a hand in Rhaegar’s upbringing, but I wouldn’t cast my die on her being regent. You might get something like Rhaelle and Ormund going to King’s Landing, given that she’s the only prominent Targaryen left other than Rhaella. Though we don’t know much about her, I’d like to believe she would definitely be Rhaella’s champion, especially since she too was wed against her will.
As for more heirs, there very well could be pressure. It’s unwise to pin the entire future of your dynasty on one toddler especially during those times when there was such a high mortality rate for children. The pitfall, of course, being that remarrying and having other kids while the child from the first marriage is still alive could bring to mind nasty reminders of the Dance of the Dragons.
What might be more likely is that since Rhaella was still perfectly young enough to have kids, they’d just wait to see how Rhaegar fared. Even 15 years down the line makes Rhaella merely 33. Not necessarily the prime of her youth, but not exactly old either. Even ignoring real-world facts, we have several examples of women in this series who have children when they’re far older than that. Alyssa Velaryon, Alysanne Targaryen, Marla Prester, and Genna Lannister, for instance, all had kids over 40. In Alysanne’s case, she was going on 50 when she had Gael.
What Rhaella’s fertility would be like if she did remarry is another question. Out of the 11 pregnancies she had in canon, only 3 children lived past infancy. We don’t know how many, if any, of the children who died early had anything to do with her or whether it was typical infant death, but regardless she also had several miscarriages and stillbirths. Almost certainly those were a result of complications from giving birth at 13, but the stress from the abuse she suffered at Aerys’s hand likely contributed as well. With a husband who was actually decent to her, Aerys dead, and her son to raise as she wished (plus a husband who was, you know, not her brother), she would at the very least be in a better emotional state.
Yeah, I agree that the chances of Rhaella being regent are slim to none, on account of her age and limited political influence and support more than her gender. However, I do not think Rhaelle
is a likely regent either
(if she even survived Summerhall, and GRRM’s favorite offscreen death-by-childbirth for his female characters, that is. Her sister Shaera seems to be also MIA following her marriage and childbirth). Note that Rhaelle had been away from King’s Landing since she was a child and likely had few allies in court to support her regency (and Ormund was dead by this point. He died in the War of the Ninepenny Kings, shortly after Jaehaerys came to the throne). Instead, in the absence of a clear candidate for regent, I think the most likely scenario would be a regency council of great lords, akin to that of Aegon III’s. Certainly, the lords who gathered during the Ninepenny Kings only two years earlier and noticed the balance of power in the realm shifting towards the nobility, and subsequently formed the bonds that would later grow into the “southron ambitions”, would make quite the influential bloc in the face of a weakened dynasty that, by Jaehaerys II’s death, would have dwindled to two 16-17 year olds in Princess Rhaella and Lord Steffon, and a boy king. No one in the dynasty would have the political clout or relations to withstand the force of an allied coalition of nobles that has a couple of wardens on board.
And with that, the face of the southron ambitions would change. At least Jon Arryn is guaranteed a prominent place on that regency council as one of the wardens (a title that was activated in the recent war) and a senior statesmen in Westeros possessing of enough clout to support the naming of some of his allies to the council as well. I’d say he’d even have a strong shot at the Handship with most of the great lords on the younger side, or Tytos Lannister and Luthor Tyrell (and no wants the incompetent Tytos or the foolish Luthor for a Hand). With the actors of the SA in such a place of power, not only would they have the opportunity to influence the education of the young king to make him mindful of lordly interests (as opposed to great grandpa Aegon V), but they could also push their agenda of creating a power bloc to check the crown to reflect the power shift within the realm (as I believe the goal of the SA was), and even ingrain a leaning in young Rhaegar towards decrees that guarantee that an Aerys I or an Aegon V scenario would not be repeated; in other words, that the monarchy wouldn’t be able to abandon its vassals or try to strip the lords of their lordly privileges ever again.
As far as Rhaella marrying again goes, one important factor to consider is that marrying Rhaella off for the purpose of producing an heir to the throne suggests that the line of succession would pass through Rhaella, and that’s very much not true. Rhaegar has no clear heir in that scenario, and the question of whether the succession would pass through Rhaella or Steffon in the case of Rhaegar’s death is sure to be raised. To be sure, Jaehaerys II might not think the situation as dire as it appeared to be, invested as he was in the prophecy of the Ghost of High Heart that the savior of humanity would come from Aerys and Rhaella’s line, so he’d probably find it reasonable to conclude that Rhaegar was going to survive at least until he fathered children, or perhaps the belief that Rhaegar himself was the prophetic figure would extend to him. After Jaehaerys’ death, aside from the regency that gave them access to the boy king, I suspect the SA would do exactly what they did in OTL: form a relationship with Steffon in case the male Targaryen line died out with Rhaegar and ensure an alliance with his line, whether he thought to wed Rhaella to unite the two lines descending from Aegon V to close ranks or not.
Sam speaks 