Would the Black Dragons have been that bad?

[Lord Varys]

23 minutes ago, The hairy bear said:

There are plenty of examples, too, of kings that have tried to change the rules of the land and they weren't able to: Viserys I wanted Rhaneyra to inherit the throne, Aegon IV wanted to disinherit Daeron, and Aegon V had to "bow to the recalcitrant lords" who opposed his reforms. Meanwhile, kings who reigned with utter disrespect for laws and customs, such as Maegor or Aerys II, were killed (with their murderers going unpunished).

Viserys I actually did change the succession. Nobody challenged his rule during his lifetime. Robert also toppled Aerys II but that doesn't mean that Jaehaerys II's decision to name his only son his successor was overturned. True, Rhaenyra's succession was challenged immediately upon her father's death but in principle there is little difference there.

Aegon IV only threatened/considered disinheriting Daeron but he never actually did it.

And Aegon V got through with some of his reforms while others met fierce opposition and were never implemented the way he wanted them. However, we don't know what those reforms were about - if he was trying radically change the political landscape and culling the powers of the lords then it is hardly surprising that he met a lot of opposition. But we should also note that his laws and decrees were challenged by lords who actually rebelled against his rule. And people can always rebel against a king they do not like.

23 minutes ago, The hairy bear said:

If Baelor thought that women ought to be imprisoned in order to "preserve their innocence from the wickedness of the world", I very much doubt that he ever considered them capable of ruling.

Sure, but he must also have known that Aegon would make a very bad king, and we know there was little love between these two. Baelor effectively banished Aegon to Braavos for a couple of years to keep him apart from Naerys.

It is an interesting question whether Baelor would have preferred a King Aegon over a Queen Daena. And it seems as if he never named an heir - if he did it would be odd that the succession was discussed after his death. If Viserys had been the Prince of Dragonstone he would have simply succeeded to the throne without there being even a debate whether Baelor's sisters and any claim or not.

I actually expect that Viserys had plans to make Daeron rather than Aegon his heir. I guess Baelor would have been fine with such a solution if we assume he and Viserys ever talked about the succession. Aegon is never identified as the Prince of Dragonstone so one could speculate whether Aegon arranged the murder of his father to prevent him from installing Daeron rather than himself as the Prince of Dragonstone. Daeron himself could very well have been in Dorne during the last years of the reign of Baelor I as well as during the short reign of Viserys II.

23 minutes ago, The hairy bear said:

That said, I agree that Daena getting pregnant by an unknown father effectively ended her chances to become queen. The World Book claims that after Baelor's death some defended her claim, and surely this idea would have had more following if not for the scandal of Daemon's birth, that took place just the year before Baelor died.

Exactly. And it would have been made worse by her refusal to name the bastard which essentially made her appear even more wanton and corrupt than she would have been had she confessed her sins, etc.

With us learning that Barbra Bracken was one of the ladies in the Maidenvault it is easily imaginable that she helped Daena with her escape and arranged things so that she met Aegon outside (or rather - 'chanced on him by accident'). It would be a huge coincidence if Aegon and Daena had had a real chance meeting and one wonders whether Daena knew Aegon well enough to actually have the intention of meeting him when she made her escape. He was much older than she was and what little we know about her indicates that she idolized her father and eldest brother, not her cousin Aegon. And most of the time of her imprisonment Aegon would have spent in Braavos.

23 minutes ago, The hairy bear said:

I'd say that it's unlikely they loved each other, since once Daena was released from the Maidenvault a year later one expects they would have married if they wished so. Aegon was in an unhappy marriage and his wife was actually asking him to allow her to become a septa.

Yeah, that would have been a way to resolve the matter. Viserys II also could have married Daena to allow her to be at least queen consort (a second time) but they either never thought about that or it was out of question because she had given birth to a bastard (or Viserys had no intention to ever take a second wife because of Larra's memory).

Daena never revealing that Aegon was the father of her son is also a strong sign that she didn't want him (or anyone) to know that Aegon was his father, suggesting that she did not want the boy to associate or spend time with him.

And if Daena was already dead when Daemon was acknowledged by Aegon then the question remains whether the man was telling the truth. Without Daena actually confirming that Daemon Blackfyre was Aegon's son all we have is the word of the Unworthy. Daena may have escaped the Maidenvault and gotten pregnant but as far as we know there is no independent corroboration that Aegon and Daena actually had sex (at that time or later on). That makes the parentage somewhat doubtful.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

21 hours ago, Jon's Queen Consort said:

The quote;

is from the ending of TPATQ and it pretty much say that the war wasn't over.

If there is one thing that the Targaryen history has taught us is that they the King, or Queen, makes the rules, they don't respect the rules of the land.

You're mistaking a character's turn of phrase* for factual evidence. The fact that there would continue to be power struggles ("the war") surrounding the throne is not the same as The Dance of the Dragons (THE war) continuing. 

That would be Targaryens who have dragons make the rules. And really only Maegor really pushed the boundaries with his six wives.

 

*the character being the "author" of TPATQ, Maester Gyldayn if I'm not mistaken

[LIVIA]

17 hours ago, The hairy bear said:

If Baelor thought that women ought to be imprisoned in order to "preserve their innocence from the wickedness of the world", I very much doubt that he ever considered them capable of ruling.

I think he imprisoned his sisters with the same goal he actually reached: to cut them off the court and above all - to ensure that they wouldn't have children. Because his agreement with the Prince of Dorne implied that Martell ex-heiress would be the wife of his own heir (or why was Mariah disinherited in favor of her brother right after the betrothal? To be a queen consort, of course), and because he probably wanted Daeron eventually to bring Dorne into the Realm.