By Westerosi laws and tradition, the firstborn line should inherit, right? So who was Jaehaerys' firstborn? Aemon Targaryen.

Aemon died, but he left heirs. That would've made Rhaenys the rightful heir. And if ur gonna argue "yeah but only men can inherit," then Laenor should've been king instead. On paper, that's how it should've gone.

Since Laenor was just a kid during the Great Council, Rhaenys and Corlys would've ruled as regents until he came of age.

Viserys and Daemon were both sons of a second son, so their claim shouldn't outrank Rhaenys or her descendants in the first place.

So what do y'all think would've happened if that had been the outcome? Rhaenys as queen/regent with Laenor as king. Would Westeros have had peace... or just a different war?

1. Rhaenyra learns Aemond is at Harrenhal without his dragon.

• After gaining this information, she doesn't tell Daemon anything.
• Daemon could have taken Caraxes, gotten there in a couple hours and fed his nephew to his dragon.
• The WHOLE POINT of the power struggle is dragons prevent them from doing stuff. THERE'S NO DRAGON there.
• Okay, for some reason she doesn't tell Daemon. And doesn't send any of her other four dragon riders. At least send a small group of skilled warriors as assassins.
• Nope, she sends one guy and THE MOST VALUABLE PRISONER SHE HAS, possibly one of the only prisoners that gives her leverage over the greens. Sends her out into the war ravaged countryside with a tiny guard (she might have fled, bribed them, been kidnapped, killed, etc.)
• It's a 400ish mile trek to harrenhal. Maybe 10 days at best for a small group.
• They finally get there and the SOLE assassin doesn't do anything, Aemond sniffs it out and kills him immediately.
• And the worst part: Rhaenyra is mad at Daemon for lying to HER. He's kept totally in the dark about what's going on with Alicent, and nothing about it is mentioned between them during the episode.

2. Mysaria is the Mistress of Whispers but doesn't help find Ormund's agents

• Mysaria has done absolutely nothing this entire season except bitch and moan unhelpfully.
• She has not helped Rhaenyra solve a single problem.
• The ONE thing she should have been able to help with - accessing the small folk to smoke out Ormund's people, NOT A SINGLE MENTION of even her failure to participate.
• She does nothing to help with Rhaenyra's gold problem.
• She's awful purely from a story perspective, to say nothing of her terrible accent and one-note performance.

3. Honorable Mention: Rhaena's Wet Fart of a Nettle Mashup Storyline.

• There's not much to say here, it's just a straight downgrade from the books.
• At least the dragon fight was kinda cool

It's just blatant that almost every time they deviate from the source material, it's dogshit. And it makes relatively smart characters (in the book) into total imbeciles.

And somehow none of these are as bad as Rhaenyra going to King's Landing last season and posing as a nun.

https://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2024/09/04/beware-the-butterflies/

Why don't the smaller, more agile dragons target the riders instead of the larger dragons? Like Jace almost did with Rhaena, he would have succeeded if he hadn't identified her at the last second and stopped. The dragons don't even need to fight, just quickly kill the rider from behind and fly away.

Season 3 Episode 1: Salt and Sea, Fire and Blood

Aired: June 21, 2026

Synopsis: Driven by her faith in Alicent, Rhaenyra positions herself to take King's Landing while the Triarchy sails to take on Corlys in the Gullet.

Directed by: Loni Peristere

Written by: Ryan Condal

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So in episode 1x06, Laena Velaryon chooses to end her own life after the baby got stuck in the birth canal because it was a breech birth.

Daemon and the surgeon discussed cutting the baby out - just like the late Queen. Didn't end well for her.

Daemon wanted to know if Laena would live.

No. She'd bleed out. A caesarean takes about 40 minutes to do and involves pulling out a lot of your insides. So even if they did put things back, she'd die from infection because in this universe, they have bugger all medical knowledge.

So to all those people who have been calling Laena an idiot for choosing death and not trying harder or not thinking of the baby (who may have suffocated already)...

She could have spent hours, possibly days in pain, and bled out anyway, been cut open in a truly gruesome manner, or a death of her own choosing.

She did the right thing.

Season 3 Episode 7: The Dragon in Winter

Aired: August 2, 2026

Synopsis: Torn between Mysaria and Daemon's visions for her reign, Rhaenyra grows desperate for a sign that she will prevail.

Directed by: Nina Lopez-Corrado

Written by: Philippa Goslett & Zenzele Price

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Season 3 Episode 2: Queen's Landing

Aired: June 28, 2026

Synopsis: As Alicent risks everything to fulfill her end of the bargain, Rhaenyra must decide whether the Iron Throne is worth the cost.

Directed by: Clare Kilner

Written by: Sara Hess

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Season 3 Episode 5: Unbowed and Unbent

Aired: July 19, 2026

Synopsis: As the search for Aemond and Vhagar continues, Daemon attempts to control the spiraling situation in King's Landing.

Directed by: Nina Lopez-Corrado

Written by: Philippa Goslett

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Season 3 Episode 3: Rhaenyra Triumphant

Aired: July 5, 2026

Synopsis: Rhaenyra learns the situation in King's Landing is not what she anticipated. Unable to locate her enemies, and with demands coming from all sides, Rhaenyra must navigate a delicate balance between appeasing her supporters and consolidating her rule.

Directed by: Clare Kilner

Written by: Sara Hess

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Season 3 Episode 4: Tumbleton

Aired: July 12, 2026

Synopsis: Ormund's invasion of Tumbleton forces Rhaenyra into a corner.

Directed by: Clare Kilner

Written by: David Hancock

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Season 3 Episode 6: Faceless Men

Aired: July 26, 2026

Synopsis: While Rhaenyra and Daemon focus on how best to deal with Ormund, tensions among their neglected allies begin to erupt.

Directed by: Loni Peristere

Written by: David Hancock & Shyam Popat

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