How to Save the Targaryen Dynasty

Westeros is a complex and dangerous place filled with political Intrigue gruesome battles and Powerful magic but George RR Martin's carefully crafted World connects with viewers on a deeply human level the main characters are Dynamic and flawed each facing their own moral demons and dilemmas they're not Heroes they're not villains they're real people with real hopes Ambitions beliefs and though the themes explored in the series are at times dark and usually thought-provoking they're always grounded in reality like when the series explores the consequences of power ambition and loyalty [Music] so when Lord valarian suggests to queen raniera that they blockade King's Landing by sea he does so not because in some abstract sense it's better for the plot but because that's what a real person might do it makes economic sense and in a world so intricate a world where the people politics and economics feel so real audiences are inspired to craft their own worlds and to wonder what could have been how would the world look if the characters were different if their Ambitions changed if the Bedrock of their beliefs were suddenly to crack this video will assess the economic and political realities of House Targaryen and ask that very question what could have been how could the mighty targaryens have sustained their Dynasty or built it to even greater Heights will of course play by the rules of Martin's World in Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon there will be spoilers for both shows though we won't spoil anything between the season finale of House of the dragon and the first season of Game of Thrones but we will dig into the tactics and strategies the targaryens could have employed to maintain their power or to amplify it this is the invisible lens Westeros is full of different cultures religions and political factions the titular Game of Thrones pits the houses of the seven regions against each other in a battle royale for power and influence Westeros is your bog standard kind of feudalist agrarian economy is not particularly Advanced is inspired a lot by the way that the European medieval economy was organized essentially its very top-down structure but there's also a lot of Independence for local landowners to exert influence this top-down structure results in big differences in ideology and culture among the houses and they're often in opposition to each other with the fate of the world resting on the outcome of the game so the Game of Thrones becomes a match of maneuvering Alliance and negotiation each house with its own strategy and having to navigate the murky Waters of westerosi politics to ensure its own Survival when you play the indeed to survive each House's first concern must be economic and although there are some craft markets in Westeros its resources are primarily agricultural when you look at Westeros a lot of the ancestral seats have some great resources constantly rock is a castle in a literal gold mine it's it's teeming with wealth the reach is of incredibly fertile land and high Garden the seat of house Tyrell is the epicenter of that on a very fertile River but House Targaryen faces a unique problem one of its own creation to be sure and will get there but the targaryens also face a challenge all the houses face you know maintaining a monarchy is extremely difficult because you lack a lot of sources of legitimacy You Know You're Not Elected you're not given you know any legitimacy from the people and as if the standard struggles of maintaining a monarchy weren't enough one of the Targaryen sounds strategic decisions actually comes back to bite them they choose to live in an area that's easy to defend but has few other upsides drakenstone is a volcanic rock in the middle of the sea there are no natural resources there the land isn't really that fertile it's kind of far away from a lot of the rest of Westeros because it's just an island there's not anything that they really gain from having that seat they only settled there because it was volcanic and it was a good place to keep dragons the targaryen's decision to prioritize defense and Dragons demonstrates Martin's skill for humanizing his characters Martin is tapping into a storytelling tactic that goes back to Aristotle and his book Poetics where he defined the tragic hero tragic heroes from Oedipus to Jay Gatsby to Severus Snape have some flaw known as homardia that brings about their own downfall in Shakespeare's plays the hamardia is often hubris think Macbeth and for the targaryens II it's hubris mixed with over sentimentality for their source of power that cracks the foundation you have to go back to an event called the dance of the Dragons which was the Targaryen Civil War to address why the Targaryen influence in Westeros declines so drastically because over the period of uh about seven or eight monarchs went from being the the strongest force in the world to being a shadow of its former self by the time it was over thousands were dead and it was a disaster for the targaryens as well they never truly recovered and a lot of that is wrapped up in their inability to proactively raise income outside of taxing the local wardens and the local Lords and also the loss of their strongest allies and also their strongest military weapons that being the dragons so in the I think it's the first episode of House of the Dragon viserys takes rhaenyra to the side and has just announced that he's going to make her his heir and he gives this speech about uh the role of dragons in the history of the Targaryen Dynasty the idea we control the dragons is an illusion there are power men should never have trifled with one of the broad Valeria it's Doom if we don't mind our own histories it would do the same to us Targaryen must understand this to be king oh Queen up until this point dragons have been an incredible resource to the targets it's the only reason that the seven kings are united because they had three huge dragons and they've only been producing more there are more Dragon Riders uh in West Ross during King viserys's Reign than there are at yeah any other period of time [Music] common notion is that targaryens are just kind of born with this this uh genetic trait of being able to train dragons and and control them and tell them when to fly and breathe fire and that's aided them massively foreign [Music] is actually saying that we don't control the Dragons It's Just an Illusion because the power of the Dragons is a force of nature basically the targaryens aren't necessarily sure what they're doing what makes the tragic hero even more tragic is that the audience can often see his downfall in advance we all know Oedipus is fate before even he does and that's true of the targaryens too we know they'll lose the iron throne but we also understand something fundamental about their Dynasty that goes back to their choice to live on Dragonstone the tug irons don't really produce anything Dragonstone is not a particularly fertile or or Rich um seat but the houses around them particularly the westerlands and the reach and even though to some extent are massive providers of income culture and food and wealth and from the togarian standpoint in King's Landing it makes much more sense for them to just sit there and tax all of the areas around them and taking their resources here Martin subtly Works in economic theory for the targaryens they've made their bed on Rocky volcanic Dragonstone and now they have to lie in it while their competitors put natural resources to use but the Targaryen Kings and their allies have a cunning scheme to gain wealth anyway it has asserted itself as the I guess almost the divine right of rule in Westeros and it doesn't necessarily feel the need to generate wealth on its own terms and through own legitimate means because it can simply exert Taxation and you know take resources from the houses around them everyone says they'll go into close to Gods than to men but they say that because of our dragons without them I dislike everyone else this dovetails with the stationary Bandit Theory Economist mansur Olson is credited as the originator but really it goes back to German sociologist Franz Oppenheimer in 1908. basically the theory goes One Tribe defeats another and instead of then moving to a new area and trying to defeat still others they say actually it's more profitable to just stay here and slowly but surely tax the work and wealth from the conquered people um the targaryens have established a code of laws over the years that stops the interlining houses kind of fighting against each other and disputing their resources because the targaryens have ultimate Authority this kind of stops the other houses from fighting within each other for resources but it gives the targaryens the uh Monopoly on theft through which they can steal resources from the houses this kind of model proved very successful for quite a long time because they were able to draw a lot of wealth from particularly the Lannisters and as we all know A Lannister Always Pays His attack I mean debt there's a lot of focus on stopping infighting and allowing the targaryens to establish themselves as the the kind of the the only party that had any right and ability to um steal resources Martin foreshadows the downfall of the targaryens they're peripatia or the hero's sudden Reversal of Fate through the contrast between House Targaryen and house valarian and especially the latter's leader Corliss so in this scene we're in high tide which is the uh ancestral seat of house valarian and this is Corliss speaking with uh Damon Targaryen about their culture and shared history but unlike the targaryens we were now Dragon Lords for centuries my house had to scratch out an existence from the sea with Grit and luck when I ascended the Driftwood throne I knew what I wanted so I went out and ceased it unlike every other lord of the realm I can say that I built my House's High seat with the strength of mine owned back calluses rise to power and the fortunes of house valarian is probably one of the single greatest increases in wealth in such a small amount of time that Westeros has seen so callus went out with a small Fleet of ships and sailed across the world on nine voyages and through these voyages he amassed such a huge amount of wealth and and power and influence that he was able to raise a massive Castle called High Tide which we just saw in that scene filled with you know Trinkets and objects that he's collected over his voyages but he also brings back spices silks all of these incredibly exotic things a lot of them are from yiti which hadn't been um really associated with West Ross before but this is kind of the Asian parallel uh on the other side of essos um which has a lot of exotic things that the Lords of Westeros want so paulus establishes these incredibly valuable trade routes uh for house valarion and to that extent the crown because at this moment he is the master of ships on the small Council and so his is a real success story of going out you know start finding his own way finding his way to make money and and building from the ground up something that he can be incredibly proud of and he's a very proud man of what he's done because before his house wasn't that significant it was a small island off the Blackwater Bay and there really wasn't much to talk about with house Valaria and it's an incredible position by the time he is finished with it in establishing Corliss Valerian as this self-made man Martin also establishes a clear contrast with the targaryens the lesson for the house of the Dragon is implied and understood through that dichotomy and the tuggerans could really learn from this because they aren't proactive they are a really reactive kind of stagnant house and it's really only you know aegon the Conqueror who who founded the kingdoms who has ever looked at a situation and said okay what can we do with this what can we take for our own and how can we make money from this so the big thing that the targaryens could learn from the valerians um is you know have a bit of proactivity in securing your income you know make your way in life and and you know really try your best to get out there and you know bring home the dough basically because the valerians will get very good at that and the targaryens have always uh just kind of sat on their Laurels the importance of wealth in the Game of Thrones cannot be overstated it shapes the course of the game it can be used to purchase weapons hire mercenaries and bribe individuals to gain favor and leverage wealth can also be used to buy loyalty as those who are able to offer more money than their Rivals might be able to build a larger army or attract more allies when the queen proclaims one king and the Hand proclaims another whose piece do the gold cloaks protect who do they follow the man who pays them furthermore wealthy characters are often able to purchase land build fortifications and establish castles that can be used as strategic bases of operation your grace your Fleet is one of the realm's most important assets Lord Callis you must understand as king it is my obligation to avoid war until such time it is unavoidable none Among Us desire open War one of the big problems in the history of the Dynasty is that the valerians have a bit of a fall from grace they lose a lot of their financial power they lose their Naval forces a lot of the trade routes that they rely on through the stepstones get messed up through a series of wars um the trade with essos becomes less reliable and so the loss of the Valerian Alliance and the strength of house valarian is another big part of why uh the targaryens found themselves without allies and without resources during the last days the theme of wealth creation is so pervasive that Martin emphasizes it throughout the timeline of both House of the dragon and Game of Thrones and above all the series illuminates trade as the key to wealth creation so let me explain my position princess unlike you I do not have exalted ancestors I make my living by trade and I judge every trade on its merits a lot of the time because the only way to trust someone is to have almost a hostage of some kind a financial deal or an economic deal or just an alliance was sealed by having one person from your house marry someone from the other house the iron bank is the iron bank there is no someone you can't run from them you can't cheat them you can't sway them with excuses if you owe them money and you don't want to crumble yourself you pay it back investing the tyrells in the crown will help a great deal in this respect they also mentioned the iron bank of braavos which is this monolithic financial institution based in the city of braavos in essos in like on the northern coast of essos and the iron bank is is a terrifying structure it is you know very reminiscent of uh International Banks in the modern day they uh there's no really bargaining with them no dealing with them they will take what they're owed the saying is that the iron bank will always have its due and one of their techniques in this world is to finance the opponents of people who don't pay uh their debts to the bank and that actually happens uh later in the show when Stannis Baratheon who is at this point leading uh Rebellion against the throne which is held nominally by Tom and Baratheon who's a bastard of the Lannisters who's the real power in King's Landing said that was a humor me Tywin Lannister how old is Tywin Lannister 67 67 and when he dies who's in command a half-grown boy the product of incest Cecil Lannister a queen whose people despise her Jaime Lannister A man best known for killing the King he was sworn to protect when taiwan's gone who do you back that is a problem for another time begging your partner I think it's a problem for now there's only one reliable leader left in Westeros Stannis he's got the birthright he's in his prime he's a trade untested battle commander and he doesn't just talk about paying people back he does it uh the bank actually supports Stannis because they think Stannis is the only way that they can a get revenge on the Lannisters for all of this debt that they're not paying and also for them to kind of re-get some of their Investments because it's very important to the bank that they get back whatever they've put in it they're a very numeric institution they're not really one for petty politics they will just back decide that they think will give them the smartest Financial outcome in this way while Martin doesn't spell it out explicitly he makes it clear wealth and trade are crucial and the targaryens don't create enough of it he lays the groundwork for the targaryen's downfall in other ways too as far back as the dance of the Dragons he establishes Dragons Not only as the chief source of Targaryen power but also the symbol of it the Dragons Were essential to the Targaryen economic power they were the only way that they could really consistently threaten to obtain resources and that was fundamental uh to the founding of the Seven Kingdoms there's this event called The Field of Fire uh during aegon's Conquest where uh Baler and the black dread which was aegon's Dragon which is uh slightly larger than vegar in the show kills the largest standing army restaurants has ever seen the combined armies of the reach and The Rock and they they are all completely incinerated the easiest way to explain it is to compare it to the bombing of like hiroshimura and Nagasaki as this massive show of force that then resonates throughout history as a as a disincentive to to disobey the crown essentially and the targaryens never really had to use dragons again because they had the threat and they everyone knew in culture what dragons were capable of and it's only really after dragons die out and so many are killed during the Civil War that people really start to question whether or not they can get away with disobeying the Targaryen monarchy so Martin's plot hits the targaryens with a double-edged sword but really they hit themselves they are slow to accept the slippage of their power and the changing perception of it while also sentimentally clinging to it that sentimentality becomes a big problem as the dragon's massive consumption of resources comes into Focus drogon for example consumes between 250 000 and 400 000 calories per day to be in fighting shape which equals the intake of about 200 men in the era of House of the Dragon the targaryens have 17 dragons some much larger than drogon that's equivalent to a standing army of at least 3 000 men they're sustaining and for a medieval Society that's a lot the real-life Manhattan Project cost nearly 23 billion dollars in 2020 money over just a seven year period so what the targaryens are doing essentially is like if the US's territory where only Barren Nevada Wasteland and yet they continued to spend precious resources on some kind of indefinite Manhattan Project even decades after World War II ended they have a few houses that assault to them because of of their ancestral seats on Dragonstone but beyond that they there's very little manpower to the Targaryen density and the lack of economic power means that they can't really raise an army from sell swords or um free companies in essos uh if they reach crisis so the answer is definitely yes the targaryens lacked a lot of economic independence from the houses surrounding them and that was a massive damage to their ability to properly counter threats as we saw in Robert's Rebellion the targaryens continue to face Rebellion threats and continue to build massive standing armies and fleets using their dragons to devastating effect in battle but the constant state of warfare takes a toll and the never-ending conflicts strain the economy and the people The targaryen's Reckless use of resources in their obsession with Warfare clearly contribute to their downfall a downfall of their own making they squander their wealth and resources on Military campaigns and the upkeep of their dragons leaving little for trade or for the development of their own kingdom the biggest thing that tug irons could have done to remain in power is to establish a independent way of making money because realistically they were always going to run into a mad king or a you know a ruler that was going to be unpopular with the locals um and they could have stopped that by establishing independent sources of income the easiest way to do this would probably been through establishing greater trade from King's Landing with essos they also should have looked into gaining greater money from things like Dragonstone which is their ancestral seats at this point the targaryens are holding on to a clutch of dragon eggs which are worth incredible amounts of money for a pretty you know sentimental reasons that targaryens have an obsession with Reviving dragons and and maybe bringing them back into the world because that's their their symbol and their where their power comes from but they could have made a lot of money and it would have made a lot of economic sense to monetize their culture and you know maybe sell off some of these ex because that would have given them enough money to type them over for a really long time the targaryen's downfall is a cautionary tale of the dangers of relying too heavily on Military might and wasting resources on unnecessary short-term Wars without properly weighing the long-term consequences and with an Aristotelian flourish the series reveals those consequences and hammers the message home the anagnaresis the moment the tragic Heroes realize they're responsible for their own downfall comes at the hands of the very symbol of their power foreign [Music]

Channel: The Invisible Lens

Views: 76,532

Keywords: Targaryen Dynasty, alt shift x, asoiaf, daemon targaryen, dance of dragons, game of thrones, hbo, hbo max, hotd, hotd explained, house of dragons, house of the dragon, house of the dragon breakdown, house of the dragon ending, house of the dragon explained, house of the dragon hbo, house of the dragon season 2, house of the dragon season 2 trailer, house of the dragon trailer, house of the dragons hbo, rhaenyra, rhaenyra targaryen, trailer, video essay, How to Save, asoiaf lore

Id: g1tj_KoOPLM

Length: 26min 12sec (1572 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 23 2023