Why didn't King Viserys & Princess Rhaenys just marry to prevent The Dance Of The Dragons?

[Music] why didn't theer's Targaryen and rainey's Targaryen just marry a question many fans of House of the Dragon often ask it would seemingly solve so many issues and negate one of the most integral reasons that allowed for the dance of the dragons to happen in the first place and thus the impact it had on the downfall of House Targaryen surely the whole mess could have been avoided if the two were just married well this is one of those elements of the backstory I think House of the Dragon did quite a poor job at explaining when you watch the show in isolation it's a very fair question to ask and I'd even argue as a book fan the concept still highlights some of the key issues with the later years of the reign of King J Harris that set the stage for the dance of the dragons in truth there are sort of three answers to this question but each I think adds its own element of intrigue to the World building you have the timeline issue the context issue and finally the real world issues that factored into how George oron Martin wrote Fire and Blood so in this video we're going to break down these issues and answer why the hell Ry and viseris just didn't marry now first off we have to look at the timeline of events which in itself makes it very clear why they never could have married in the year 90 AC the then 16-year-old princess rise married Lord corus valarian the Lord Bo of the tides in a match very much of her own choosing the year prior in 189 AC she'd asked her grandfather King jeris for permission to marry Lord Kus which the king agreed to then in 193 AC the 15-year-old viseris Targaryen married his cousin Emma Aaron whom was 11 years old at the time they waited 2 years to consummate the marriage now here is where the context and timeline really come into play when it comes to this question one key event happened in between the marriage of Ry and the marriage of viseris to their respective matches and that was the Unexpected death of Prince aan Targaryen heir to the Iron Throne on the island of the tath at the age of 36 in the year 92 AC aan was jer's eldest living son and heir to the iron throne and importantly for this discussion re's father now here is the thing and for me the key reason as to why a match between rise and viseris in 89 AC didn't really seem that appealing aan was a strong Heir already with a daughter in Ry Balon Jar's Second Son and thus viseris were not really in the picture yet in terms of succession at this point so when presented with a match between rise and corus it's a politically sensible choice for jeris to allow it close tires between House Targaryen and valarian up until then had always been a good thing and by this point corus valarian was famous across the world for his nine voyages and one of the richest men in Wester us it's only when you look back in hindsight the issue with the match appears there was no way to have known aan would be dead by 92 AC while he was yet to Father a son he was still a young man there was plenty of time for him left to do so however something that I think is fair to point out is perhaps it should have been a bit more alarming that in 22 years of marriage to Joselyn Baratheon they'd only had one child in Ry and that by 89 AC when rainy was betrayed the Kus that was 15 years prior seemingly the pair had issues conceiving and maybe this should have been a consideration when Jaris allowed the match between Ry and Kus when aan died in 92 AC there was of course a push spearheaded by Jos and barathan and queen alisan for rise to be named heir to Jaris being aiman's eldest child but the King instead opted for his second son Balon who at this point had two Heirs of his own ineris and Damon of course there was push back to the idea of rainy being passed over but Jaris had made his choice now this is where looking at the issues that caused the dance of the dragons and the idea of a match between rise and viseris seems appealing joining the lines of both claimants but riney was already married and pregnant by this point thus why this match could never have happened and why viseris in turn married Emma Aaron which in itself was another good political match it's only looking back at the history of Westeros the idea of a match between rise and viseris is raised as a solution to a problem that didn't exist yet you just have to remember this solution comes with the power of the hindsight of events to come when Jaris allowed Ry to marry Kus there was no way to have predicted the death of aan in 92 AC which in turn upends the whole succession in an idol world where you know how events were going to play out it would have been a good solution to prevent the dance of the dragons from happening but that's not how history works I do think House of the Dragon did a really good job at giving viewers the backstory that was important to the plot given how little time they had due to the PACE the show needed to move at to cover the amount of story being told but I will concede elements as to why this match could not have happened given the timeline were very much brushed over and does leave the viewer asking questions the change to how the show portrayed the great Council of 101 as a choice between rise and viseris rather than viseris and Lor as in the book also didn't help the issue and only muddied the implied timeline for viewers further so in essence the answer to the question in terms of a timeline and context sense is by the time the idea of rainy's marrying viseris became well a good idea at the death of aan in 92 AC it was already too late given bines was already married thus why in a way the next best thing to quell succession dispute between viseris and Ries is for their own children to marry each other and join their claims which is what happens years later with reira and Lor but as the events of the dance of the Dragons proves succession is never simple and just as you fix one issue in marrying reira and Lor you create another in Egon and viseris his children by Allison high tower but let's just say for a second you could go back in time and tell Jaris what's about to happen and have him marry Ry and viseris what exactly would then happen when aan dies does Ry become queen or does Jaris carry on with his M preference and still name Balon air orbe it with less resistance from the likes of Queen alisan given the match between Ry and viseris meaning she will still be Queen but the issue is more complicated than that namely in this circumstance who exactly is going to be the ruling party here going the Balon route would mean that Aeris would be the ruling party limiting the power Ries would hold the alternative would be rainy as a ruling Queen and viseras as a prince consort nether solution is perfect and presents its own set of complicated issues but if either of these events came to pass it would prevent the circumstances that allowed for the dance of the dragons to happen Ry and viseris theoretical child would still have the strength of both their parents claim but without firm succession laws that were more codified in a way which you could argue the great councilor 101 tried to do I do believe an event like the dance and Dragons would have been inevitable at some point in time or another but there is an answer to this question that has nothing to do with the fic history and law of Westeros a more real world practical issue that leads to the question being asked in the first place the first rle look at the Dan and the dragons we were given were from the little we get from the main book series and the novellas The Princess and the queen and the Rogue Prince When George R Martin wrote Fire and Blood he had to work around what he'd already established in those novelas while some aspects of the novelas were changed when they were adapted Into Fire and Blood for the most part George had to work around events he had already established in a way work backwards from what he already had part of what was already established was the fact that rainy married Kus thus even if George wanted to have Ry and for Sarah's marry it would have been a very difficult reccon given how much of the novelas hinge on that fact the difference between the nelas and Fire and Blood is a video I am working on I also plan to delve into how George went about creating his world history working backwards from what he'd already established in the main books I have no idea when that would be ready because it's taking a lot of research so the short answer to this question as to why rise was never married to viseris it's simply the fact she married Kus before her father died unexpectedly setting off a chain reaction of the succession crisis that set House Targaryen on a path to the dance of the Dragons but I think it's clear given what we know about both Ry and viseris as characters that the match between them doesn't solve issues such as who would be the ruling party and who would be the consort you then have the real world World way in which George R Martin had to retroactively write around events he'd already established in novelas when he came to write Fire and Blood the law of A Song of Ice and Fire is deep and complex however situations like this are very much a symptom of Georg R Martin's Gardener approach to writing which is how he's always worked even if it does sometimes create issues such as this that need to be written around I [Music]

Channel: World Of Westeros

Views: 22,650

Keywords: House Of The Dragon backstory, House Of The Dragon history and lore, house of the dragon explained, Viserys Targaryen, Viserys death, Viserys & Daemon, Princess Rhaenys, Viserys and Rhaenys, Viserys & Rhaenys marry, Great council of 101, Rhaenys targaryen lore, Viserys targaryen lore, House Of The Dragon season 2 news, House Of The Dragon season 2 trailer, Rhaenys Targaryen death, Viserys Targaryen death, Rhaenyra Targaryen, Laenor Velaryion, Rhaenyra and laenor

Id: 7WN9p1GTBQg

Length: 9min 45sec (585 seconds)

Published: Sun May 05 2024