Denam_Pavel

He still has his tenure as Hand of the King for most of war ahead of him.

Dominance and power sure, but not control of the narrative, it's still a dragonride to Driftmark and dragonstone and a boatride back, longer if they have to assemble enough forces to seal off King's Landing. There's no stopping the story of the whole governing body being incinerated at the coronation from escaping King's Landing before Rhaenyra can do anything, nor the ravens with Otto's messages from making it too their intended destination before anything else arrives. As powerful as the dragons are, they are still a singular unwieldy creatures. They can't seal off cities or stop the spread of information.

If? Rhaenys would have toasted the king, his siblings, the Queen Dowager, his children, the Hand, the Grandmaester, the high Septon and other septons, half the Kingsguard, hundreds of smallfolk. You think there's doubt that there would be calls for her exile for at least few years? Daemon was exiled for nothing by comparison. There is no way Rhaenyra wouldn't suffer demands to declare Rhaenys a monster and an enemy of the realm for the rest of her reign. Rhaenys would be remembered as the equivalent to Maegor the Cruel and it is only a question if Rhaenyra is likewise remembered as a tyrant by defending her in any way.

Alicent's reaction to Butterwell's death gives the impression Cole is just Superman living in a world of cardboard, constantly accidentally killing people by touching them in only the most slightly forceful way.

I don't know what makes you say this means he is not in a position to challenge Rhaenyra's rule. Vhagar can easily turn the Red Keep into a second, much smaller Harrenhal. It's more then big enough for that now. Aemond is never gonna surrender and could easily end up killing his daughters and his son if Daemon refused to deal with him.

The heir to a house being fostered in the house of their liegelord, in this case Dragonstone, isn't that unusual. Vaemond's assertion that growing up in a place as being important to the succession is kinda silly.

Viserys confused Alicent and Aemma this episode, Daemon comments that how cruel the gods have been to Viserys. He's pretty much dying however slowly. Giving the job to someone newer and younger and seeing if they are good at the job may not be something Viserys sees himself capable of at this point. Going back to a known capable administrator makes sense to me.

This is my thinking exactly, this show needs a Titus Pullo/Bronn/Jaqen. Just a really amicable character that can go around and do Daemon's killing him for him. Harwin, Laenor, Rhea, Blood and Cheese, fix these issues with one solution.

"Your cousins can find you a pig to ride, it would suit you" is definitely rude. When he was holding up the rock threateningly he was also strangling a boy much young then he and saying "you will die screaming just like your father did." Aemond is the one where all the death threats are coming from.

Maegor took 12 wives in an effort to get a trueborn son, I guess his failure is in not trying hard enough either.

Not every harvest goes well, and things can go wrong with food storage. That winter is coming on the other hand is certain.

I should stress, the Valyrians, both houses that these kids allegedly stem from, have been inbreeding for centuries exactly because the world they live in values the visual traits the Strong boys lack. And they've had plenty success accomplishing in doing so. They at least think they have some idea of how it works. And that is not true. Jaehaerys went on tons of processions throughout the realm, so did Viserys and Rhaenyra, the lords of the realm have been called to Harrenhal for great councils in their lifetimes and to KL to swear fealty to Rhaenyra. The nobles know what Valyrian royals looks like, what Rhaenyra the heir looks like, what Laenor, Laena and Rhaenys, Viserys' past rivals for the throne look like and Corlys looks what the Strongs, their hosts at Harrenhal look like. They've met them anyway. When Aegon shrugs and says "Everyone knows, just look at them." there's no indication he is lying.

Because there were witnesses for the birth. Also, she's not claiming they are her immaculate conception. Human generally have two parents and get their genes from those two parents, some more apparant then others. When it's neither of them, nor their grandparents, three times in a row, and those boys are heirs to Driftmark, the richest seat in the realm, Dragonstone the only place where dragons are found beside KL and the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms in King's Landing then there's a pretty tough pill to swallow for those further down the succession, let's be real.

This does not follow with what we hear about the concept of first night. The progeny of those such nights are called bastards and are issued from married women. Alysanne only banned the practice a few decades before these events and not entirely successfully.

I mean it's surely possible. Tywin's family don't look like Baratheons now, despite evidently having several Baratheons in their family tree (in book 1 anyway). It trumps them but evidently doesn't extinquish blonde, green eyed genes forever. Robert obviously thinks he fathered the kids, so clearly he remembers encounters with Cersei that corrospond with her pregnancies well enough. Cersei was at least in bedchambers with Robert at the right time, Jon Arryn can't attest to what didn't happen, even Varys' birds would be hardpressed to prove that stuff. Cersei has Robert's own experience to throw against these accusations. Rhaenyra wasn't sleeping with Laenor but unwilling to bear his children, he just wasn't there sleeping with her, period. There's gotta be a lot more physical evidence against Rhaenyra/Laenor then Cersei.

Cersei and Robert actually did have sex every once in while. And Robert wouldn't have a whole bunch of bastards from whores in the first place if birth control was perfect in this world. Jon Arryn having conclusive proof that Stannis lacks is just blatantly untrue. Ned made sure the only real way this world has means to at severe cost to himself: asking the mother, Varys wasn't gonna do anything, Jon was gonna kill those kids based on his own broad judgement.

Alicent's children look like their father. Why is that a problem?

Rhaenys has hair black as coal, like any Baratheon, yes. the boys do not however have Baratheon traits, nor Valyrian, not their eyes, not their hair, not their nose. Rhaenys is no way a precedent for where they get these traits from. Martin had Laenor live in a different castle from Rhaenyra too, he did that purpose to make a point as well.

There have been a LOT more Velaryon and Targaryan matches then Lannister and Baratheon. Both of them coming from interbred Valyrian lines, they've looked as consistent as anything. In fact, barely any of the examples Ned found actually seem to exist in canon, the Baratheons haven't been in Westeros that long and GRRM has done nothing to integrate the idea that there have been several Baratheon-Lannisters marriages in that time when fleshing out the history. Leana, Daemon and Rhaenyra's other kids all look Valyrian, just the ones whose father is gay don't look like their father but rather their mother's sworn sword. The temperament of the King in question is the only real distinction.

Varys and Jon Arryn didn't have any proof. Ned had a form of proof for himself, in Cersei telling him what the deal is to his face. The others just decided for themselves that the way things looked was enough to be certain about it.

And then he doesn't, and Robert dies and Ned still feels it is his business.

Robert and Cersei definitely have had sex. Stannis cannot give an account of when which act of adultery with Jaime happened. The proof that his claim to the throne over all three kids stems from is in their features and the Baratheon seed being so strong. Ned never tells Robert, who claims Joffrey as his heir. But Ned still feels he as Regent, Hand of King and Protector has authority to declare Joffrey a bastard.

Oh come on. If Alicent doesn't have any proof then neither does Stannis. Joffrey, Tommen en Myrcella just look like the person everyone including Stannis agrees is their mother. The Strong boys don't like their mother, any of their grandparents, nearly none of their greatparents if not none at all and don't even a share ethnicity with their father anymore. You really have to personally want them to be Leanor's to believe it like Viserys. If Alicent doesn't have leg to stand on then it is insane that Jon, Ned and Stannis ever even bothered.

The Starks do look like their other parent however. And Griff still has his hair and eyes from the Valyrian side of the family, his eyes just aren't the exact shade Rhaegar's was. The Strong boys look like someone altogether not known to be their blood. They don't look Baratheon either. They might all three of them take after their Arryn greatgrandfather, traits that completely skipped Aemma and Rhaenyra, against every other family tree they stem from going back to many generations of inbreeding of Valyrian traits that's the only hope in the books. It's possible but it's hardly crazy ang grasping at straws to just think they more likely take after their own father.

Yeah, Alicent and the Kingsguard are permanent, everyone else can be dismissed like Otto or Harwin at any time.