Did Viserys I intend Targaryen dynasty to end with Rhaenyra?

[Jaak]

That was likely before Aemon died. 

And Aemon could have seen trouble brewing. Why, Daemon/Rhaenyra was seen as a problem before Baelon was born, by the time Rhaenyra was 7. And Aemon/Jocelyn has a 18 year old daughter and no sons. When Aemon lived, did Aemon, Jaehaerys and Baelon expect Rhaenys to sit Iron Throne after Aemon?

[Lord Varys]

Fire Eater,

 

Jaehaerys is not really to blame, but the Great Council is despite (or because) of the 20:1 vote for Viserys. That caused another problem - that females and their male descendants were considered to have a lesser claim than males from an unbroken male line - which immediately became imminent when Daemon considered himself to be Viserys' Heir Presumptive, which then led to Rhaenyra's formal installation as Princess of Dragonstone. And after that there was no turning back without causing more problems since half the Realm or more, including the whole court at that time, had sworn an oath to uphold Rhaenyra's rights.

 

The animosities and rivalries from Jaehaerys' days weren't resolved by the Great Council, and directly led the gestation of the Dance. That is quite evident by the fact that there are two attempts to unite that Baelon's and Aemon's branches of the family by marriage. The Hightowers were just a new element. Had Rhaenyra not eventually married Daemon he and his descendants might have challenged her claim, or Laena's children by Viserys would have had he married her instead of Alicent.

 

Yeah, Aegon led the ball drop with the Faith. Treading carefully around the Faith is the same as not resolving the issue who is actually in charge. And that eventually led to the rebellion of the Faith Militant. The High Septon denouncing Aenys I as 'King Abomination' is the Faith showing its true colors there. They kept quiet about the Targaryens during Aegon's days, but they did not really accept Aegon's incest-born children. They may have been willing to suffer it this one time since the High Septon actually crowned and anointed Aenys, but when first Maegor and the Aenys himself defied the Faith on polygamy and incest things changed.

The early rebels did not mainly rebel because Aenys was perceived as weak - that he was indecisive was only realized after the fact - but mostly because the Conqueror was dead. People had submitted to him, not his sons, they hadn't even been born at the time.

 

As to Visenya-Aegon: You have to make such an arrangement work. Both are to be blamed for this whole thing, but going as low as killing your own nephew and stepson as well as his sons afterwards is pretty low. Maegor's return was certainly necessary to reconquer Westeros and the Iron Throne, but thinking he could ever be a good king was pretty stupid. Visenya should not have allowed to be blinded by motherly love. Neither Aenys nor Maegor were good kingly material, but helping Aenys and then Aenys' sons rather than killing them would have been the better course - especially in light of the fact that Maegor definitely was worse than Aenys as king.

 

Viserys/Rhaenys:

 

Evidence suggest - the claim that Viserys had been married to Aemma Arryn a decade when he ascended the throne in 103 AC - that Viserys was as of yet unmarried when Prince Aemon died. Rhaenys, on the other hand, may already have been married. Laena is born in 93 AC, which means she might have been conceived in 92 AC, which, in turn, makes it quite likely that Corlys was wed to Rhaenys before Aemon's death either in 92 or even 91 AC. Perhaps even earlier if Corlys had been at sea for a longer period of time after the wedding. Not to mention that this match most likely had been arranged quite some time before, and could not be called off. Viserys' own match with Aemma Arryn may have been a hasty arrangement after Jaehaerys decided to name Baelon his heir. Aemma Arryn was only eleven years old in 93 AC, not exactly a good time to marry.

But my guess is that Jaehaerys/Baelon feared the eventual repercussions of Jaehaerys' decision against Rhaenys - especially if the quarrel with Alysanne was really very bad, and she perhaps joined Rhaenys and Corlys on Driftmark, leaving KL. Had there been no reconciliation between Jaehaerys and Alysanne, and had Alysanne outlived Jaehaerys, her word on the succession would have had a lot of weight. Not to mention that Rhaenys had both the Velaryons and the Baratheons through her maternal uncle, Lord Boremund Baratheon, on her side. Baelon's line had as of yet no strong ties to any great house, and the match between Viserys and Aemma as well as the eventual match between Daemon and Rhea Royce may have been ways to ensure that Baelon's line could also draw on some close allies among the great lords.

 

Aemon wouldn't have seen anything considering that he expected to inherit his father's crown and throne. Rhaenys would only become queen after his death, and by then she would most likely have been universally accepted as his heiress. Not to mention that her heirs could have married Viserys' children.

[Fire Eater]

And Aemon could have seen trouble brewing. Why, Daemon/Rhaenyra was seen as a problem before Baelon was born, by the time Rhaenyra was 7. And Aemon/Jocelyn has a 18 year old daughter and no sons. When Aemon lived, did Aemon, Jaehaerys and Baelon expect Rhaenys to sit Iron Throne after Aemon?

Viserys's wife Aemma was still alive, and they expected she would eventually bear him sons, so they would be the heirs not Rhaenyra. 

 

Fire Eater,

 

Jaehaerys is not really to blame, but the Great Council is despite (or because) of the 20:1 vote for Viserys. That caused another problem - that females and their male descendants were considered to have a lesser claim than males from an unbroken male line - which immediately became imminent when Daemon considered himself to be Viserys' Heir Presumptive, which then led to Rhaenyra's formal installation as Princess of Dragonstone. And after that there was no turning back without causing more problems since half the Realm or more, including the whole court at that time, had sworn an oath to uphold Rhaenyra's rights.

 

The animosities and rivalries from Jaehaerys' days weren't resolved by the Great Council, and directly led the gestation of the Dance. That is quite evident by the fact that there are two attempts to unite that Baelon's and Aemon's branches of the family by marriage. The Hightowers were just a new element. Had Rhaenyra not eventually married Daemon he and his descendants might have challenged her claim, or Laena's children by Viserys would have had he married her instead of Alicent.

 

Yeah, Aegon led the ball drop with the Faith. Treading carefully around the Faith is the same as not resolving the issue who is actually in charge. And that eventually led to the rebellion of the Faith Militant. The High Septon denouncing Aenys I as 'King Abomination' is the Faith showing its true colors there. They kept quiet about the Targaryens during Aegon's days, but they did not really accept Aegon's incest-born children. They may have been willing to suffer it this one time since the High Septon actually crowned and anointed Aenys, but when first Maegor and the Aenys himself defied the Faith on polygamy and incest things changed.

The early rebels did not mainly rebel because Aenys was perceived as weak - that he was indecisive was only realized after the fact - but mostly because the Conqueror was dead. People had submitted to him, not his sons, they hadn't even been born at the time.

 

As to Visenya-Aegon: You have to make such an arrangement work. Both are to be blamed for this whole thing, but going as low as killing your own nephew and stepson as well as his sons afterwards is pretty low. Maegor's return was certainly necessary to reconquer Westeros and the Iron Throne, but thinking he could ever be a good king was pretty stupid. Visenya should not have allowed to be blinded by motherly love. Neither Aenys nor Maegor were good kingly material, but helping Aenys and then Aenys' sons rather than killing them would have been the better course - especially in light of the fact that Maegor definitely was worse than Aenys as king.

 

There will always be problems with a royal family in a system where family and power are one. This is one of them. Viserys is more to blame in this case since he violated the precedent of not just the Great Council, but his grandfather who named Baelon his heir over Aemon's daughter, Rhaenys. 

 

Daemon's attempt was out of love rather than politics, or he wouldn't have left to escape his brother's wrath for lack of a better term for marrying without his leave. Everything is easier in hindsight, and looking at the present, the Great Council set a precedent, and the selected candidate, Viserys, did prove to be a good administrator. I doubt Laenor would have done better. 

 

Actually, the HS didn't rebel until Aenys let the Greyjoys expel the Faith from the Iron Isles, Maegor took a second wife with Aenys allowing albeit with exile and Aenys married his son to his daughter. Basically, Aenys was pushing it as you say. The lords would still have been required to swear oaths of fealty to House Targaryen. They knew how it went given they had been ruled by feudal monarchies for centuries. 

 

Visenya is more to blame as she ended up setting a dynastic struggle when they were already facing a rebellion. The problem with Aenys and Maegor was that each was their mother's son. Aegon I knew how to balance fear with magnificence. Aenys had magnificence and made friends easily, but he wasn't feared, which led to the Targaryens almost losing all. Maegor was a warrior prodigy, and definitely feared, but without magnificence he made enemies easily but had a harder time keeping friends. That fear ended up turning into hate, the exact thing Machiavelli warned against, and his reign was spent crushing rebellions and uprisings.  

[Jaak]

Did Aemon intend Targaryen dynasty to end with Rhaenys?

[Lord Varys]

Why not? It is not that the Targaryen dynasty in Westeros was that old at this time. But they could have decided to give Rhaenys' son the Targaryen name should he rule after her, or marry her daughter to son of Viserys or Daemon if there was a need to unite those lines, although my guess is that Laena and Laenor would have married each other if Aemon and eventually Rhaenys had ascended the Iron Throne. The fact that this marriage did not occur was either due to the fact that Laenor wasn't willing to marry at all until Viserys' offer to marry Rhaenyra came, or that Viserys refused to allow such an incestuous match. Incest marriage weren't allowed by the Faith, and consequently a 'royal prerogative' of the ruling dynasty - there is little chance that an incestuous marriage could stand without the king's explicit permission.

 

In general, though, I think the Velaryon name shone as brightly as the Targaryen name at that time. Corlys had seen to that, and considering that Rhaenyra, despite being Princess of Dragonstone, didn't give her sons the name Targaryen is a sign that the Velaryons were really on equal footing with the Targaryens at this time. After all, they had dragons, too.