Addam Velaryon Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 On page 129 of "The World of Ice and Fire", there is a passage explaining how King Aerys II sent the pregnant Queen Rhaella and his son Prince Viserys to Dragonstone. This of course was after the death of Crown Prince Rhaegar, but before the sack of King's Landing by the Lannister forces and the murder of Rhaegar's wife and children. Quote... "(Aerys) sent his pregnant queen, Rhaella, and his younger son and new heir, Viserys, away to Dragonstone, but Princess Elia was forced to remain in King's Landing with Rhaegar's children..." Rhaegar's son, the infant Prince Aegon, was still alive at this point. Though he was an infant, the baby was by right of primogeniture the actual heir of King Aerys II, not Prince Viserys, who would have been 2nd in the line of succession after his infant nephew. I really don't think that the fact that Aegon was a little baby mattered at all with regard to the Targaryen succession. As we all know, the Targaryen duynasty practiced absolute agnatic succession (sometimes called "salic law"), which meant that women were not allowed to inherit but also that the first born sons, and the line of the first born sons, succeed first. This made me think of how King Richard II succeeded to the throne of England - upon the death of his grandfather King Edward III, he was crowned King at the age of 10. Richard II's father was Edward the Black Prince, who had pre-deceased King Edward III. Upon the death of Edward the Black Prince, the rights of succession to the throne did not pass to the Black Prince's younger brother (who at this point was John of Gaunt, the Duke of Lancaster), but rather to the Black Prince's son Richard. I'd be very interested in knowing what Elio and/or Linda's thoughts are on this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFDanny Posted July 30, 2015 Share Posted July 30, 2015 It's not a mistake. There is a whole discussion of this in the four links in my signature, including links to remarks by Ran (Elio) about it not being a mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Blue Eyes Posted July 31, 2015 Share Posted July 31, 2015 "Mad King" is not an affectionate nickname. Aerys didn't trust Rhaegar, or Elia and their children. He despised them. And he didn't felt himself bound by laws or precedents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.