Was Rhaenyra Targaryen some kind of mad ?

[voltron]

When i finish to read the TPATQ, i wasn't sure on the character of Rhaenyra, was she mad or just an angry person due to her children's deaths ? I can't put my finger on it. Since the debut, she was described as a vengeful person who never forget a slight (hello Cersei). Remember that Aerys was a good king in his debuts and he grew mad with the years. I feel that Rhaenyra was predisposed to be crazy too. Maybe Alicent did the Kingdom a favor by challenging her claim to the Throne.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

At the end, yes. Not because of a genetic predisposition, but because of the many traumatic experiences she suffered during the Dance.

[SeanF]

When i finish to read the TPATQ, i wasn't sure on the character of Rhaenyra, was she mad or just an angry person due to her children's deaths ? I can't put my finger on it. Since the debut, she was described as a vengeful person who never forget a slight (hello Cersei). Remember that Aerys was a good king in his debuts and he grew mad with the years. I feel that Rhaenyra was predisposed to be crazy too. Maybe Alicent did the Kingdom a favor by challenging her claim to the Throne.

I think she had been made very bitter, as a result of what she suffered. I don't know whether she'd have made a good queen, had she been unopposed. Her enemies had some reason to fear her dreadful husband.

It's hard not to feel sorry for a woman who was subject to relentless vilification by her opponents, ever since she was a girl, and had her son treacherously murdered, at the outset of the Dance. That doesn't excuse her actions at Kings Landing.

[mb2518]

Sadly, yes. She snapped when her daughter turned out to be stillborn. She was betrayed at every turn afterward.

[Fire Eater]

At the end, yes. Not because of a genetic predisposition, but because of the many traumatic experiences she suffered during the Dance.

With Cersei and Cat we have seen similar results after losing their children.

[larastone]

With Cersei and Cat we have seen similar results after losing their children.

I hate that GRRM employs this trope so often. Mothers just going BATSHIT after their children's deaths. yuck.

[Acnologia Targaryen]

After what she went through i can't blame her for going crazy not everyone can be Job.

[Fire Eater]

I hate that GRRM employs this trope so often. Mothers just going BATSHIT after their children's deaths. yuck.

Cat thought she lost her two younger sons, and had just seen her remaining son killed before her eyes. Cersei's mental instability had been growing before Joffrey's death.

Rhaenyra lost three of her sons by that time, and Viserys was lost to her.

[Mithras]

I think Dany will suffer more than her in the Second Dance. And we will see how she will react to that.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

I think Dany will suffer more than her in the Second Dance. And we will see how she will react to that.

Doubt that. She has way, way less to loose.

Nevertheless, she is already bad news.

[Jon's Queen Consort]

At the end, yes. Not because of a genetic predisposition, but because of the many traumatic experiences she suffered during the Dance.

This. Yes she snapped but she lost one daughter, 3 sons, one father, her other son was abducted and she was betrayed by her so called family. I don't see how someone wouldn't had snapped.

[Mithras]

Doubt that. She has way, way less to loose.

Nevertheless, she is already bad news.

Compared to Rhaenyra, she does not have a husband or her own children. I think she will have an equivalent husband and she considers her dragons as her children. Rhaenyra was called the Realm's Delight once and she lost that title due to the things she had to do during the Dance. Dany has this "Mhysa" title among her followers and we will see how long she will be able to keep that.

There is also one more thing. Dany will no doubt win the Second Dance, but at what cost?

There is also this quote from Jorah:

There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs. The scent of blood is all it takes to wake him.

[LordStoneheart]

I hate that GRRM employs this trope so often. Mothers just going BATSHIT after their children's deaths. yuck.

I can't speak for any mothers and say that's not a stretch, but I see no problem with it. As Fire Eater said, Cat had suffered an extreme amount of grief before the moment she actually snapped. Others who aren't as strong as her probably would have broken long before that. Cersei was never mentally stable to begin with. She seems to have always been a bit off her rocker... and think about their reactions.

Catelyn goes mad with grief. Cersei immediately "recovers" to accuse Tyrion. I put it in quotes because Cersei isn't so strong as to be clear-headed after watching her son choke, but she's crazy to the point where it was probably not all that harmful for her. Her grief comes out as insane, paranoid anger rather than... well, grief.

(I didn't mean to write that much but the words just kept coming...)

[Baela of Pentos]

Compare to Cat or Cersei's story, let's not also forget that tPatQ was told second hand by a Maester. He had several contemporary sources, but we know Septon Eustace is very pro-Aegon.

I don't doubt Rhaenyra has done unsavory things. But how much was true vs unreliable narrator?

[aryagonnakill#2]

I think she was incompetent, I don't know if she was ever "crazy". Certainly not a good candidate for Queen, but she wouldn't have run the realm by herself. And as for all the feminists on here that hate Daemon, women weren't the only ones forced into marriages they didn't like, you all hate Daemon for hating a wife he did not choose to marry, and have nothing but sympathy for Lysa. It's a double standard.