Sword of the Morgan Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Had Aemon Targaryen, the second of his name, accepted the iron throne when it was offered to him, would that have saved thousands upon thousands of lives? He is still alive at the start of ASoIaF, and I have no doubt that he would have been a fantastic ruler. There would be no Mad King coming into power, no Robert's Rebellion, no Targaryen exile, no War of Five Kings. Think about how it would have changed the landscape of Westeros. Sure, he may not have lived as long serving as King, but I don't see anything obvious to suggest that. He may have been one of the greatest kings and kept Westeros in a state of peace for a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke O' Nooobs Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Yep, he probably could have. But then that would defeat the whole premise of this entire series :bang: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twenty of House Goodmen Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Still wouldn't rule out the possibility of his children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren being horrendous kings, so we'll never know for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hutch Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 He would have died much earlier. When talking about him, one of the characters says that the cold preserves or something. So by that logic, anywhere other than the wall would have meant a much earlier death for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joaozinm Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Lol came here to see if it was about some wrong medicine he used. the decision to bring Sam. The thoughts about stannis And the OP creates a %$%$%$% unpredictable parallel universes with 10000000 possibilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Roberto Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Egg seemed to have been a decent enough leader himself. Might be Aemon as King would have tried to hatch dragon eggs at Summerhall himself, since him and Egg were fascinated with dragons when young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King of Winters Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 The only reason Aemon lived that long was because of the Wall. As he himself said, ice preserves, fire destroys. He would've died earlier than he had in AFFC because the Wall wouldn't have been there to "preserve" him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baelor Swyft Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I'm of the opinion that to become this type of person, one must give up the power and accept a humble life. Had Aemon become king, it may well have corrupted him. Would Gandalf have been able to shoulder the ring himself, or would it have corrupted him like Saurman was corrupted? Look at Uncle Iroh, when he was in line for the throne he was a monster. Had he not lost that position, he would never have turned to the way of peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I'm of the opinion that to become this type of person, one must give up the power and accept a humble life. Had Aemon become king, it may well have corrupted him. I think this is accurate. If Aemon had been the type to actually covet the throne or actively seek it, then he would be giving up a huge part of what makes him so great. There's a reason that "the people best-suited for power are the ones who don't actually want it" is a maxim (or its inverse, "no one who wants power ought to have it"). And Egg didn't "want" the throne either, but he did a decent job. I'm not sure it's a given either that everything would have been better with Aemon. The Targaryen quality of rulers can fluctuate pretty wildly from generation to generation; it's how you get Aegon IV and then Daeron II, or Jaehaerys II and then Aerys II. So Aemon being a good king is no guarantee that someone terrible would follow him, but that's true for any of the Targs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CreativeName Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I'm of the opinion that to become this type of person, one must give up the power and accept a humble life. Had Aemon become king, it may well have corrupted him. Would Gandalf have been able to shoulder the ring himself, or would it have corrupted him like Saurman was corrupted? Look at Uncle Iroh, when he was in line for the throne he was a monster. Had he not lost that position, he would never have turned to the way of peace. Seeing Uncle Iroh mentioned in the same line with Aemon and Gandalf... That made me smile pleasantly. :) Add Dumbledore and the line of my teenage father-figure idols is perfect. ETA: Imagine those 4 sharing a cup of tea together. ^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Crow's Third Eye Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 I want to add that like Joffery releasing Barristan from the KG, Aemon accepting the Kingship would set a dangerous precedent for ambitious maester's, and in particular I think it would present a dangerous temptation for the Grand Maester who is already in a position of power. I also agree with what others have said, that the traits that made Aemon refuse the crown are what would have made him a good King. Ultimately, it was the right decision to decline IMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baelor Swyft Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 That's a good point, Brandon. The Maesters have enough power already! Seeing Uncle Iroh mentioned in the same line with Aemon and Gandalf... That made me smile pleasantly. :) Add Dumbledore and the line of my teenage father-figure idols is perfect. ETA: Imagine those 4 sharing a cup of tea together. ^^ Aw, I love you for saying so! :wub: Great call on Dumbledore, too. Four of my all-time favorite characters right there. That would be quite an amazing tea party to behold!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord of Lights Hound Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Ignoring the ripple effect this could have on every minor detail, you would still have. Lannisters being richest house with Tywin wanting to be most powerful house.Tyrells still trying to out do the LannistersLF wanting to fuck the Starks and Tullys over and become king of the world.Varys still dropping poison in the small councils ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allyria Winterborn Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Besides, apart from the fact that "cold preserves", at the Wall no one had any reason to do Maester Aemon any harm, so he lived as much as his health allowed him and died a natural death. Had he been king, if he upset the wrong people, he could have been murdered a long time ago. And who knows, in the end the throne might have still ended up in the hands of Egg's descendants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Crow's Third Eye Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Its also no certain how well Aemon would have dealt with the War of the Ninepenny Kings, as he doesn't show a particularly martial mind (notices he offers next to no advice during the battle at Castle Black). I know he would have had advisers but its possible he may not have dealt with it as well as it ultimately was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draco_Dracul Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Aemon is like Ned in that regard, both were the best choice for king in their respective succession crisis, both turned it down for legal reason, and the realm suffered for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King of Winters Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Aemon is like Ned in that regard, both were the best choice for king in their respective succession crisis, both turned it down for legal reason, and the realm suffered for it.But the corruption in KL would've overwhelmed them both eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaime FTW Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Yep, he probably could have. But then that would defeat the whole premise of this entire series :bang: you read my minds. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khal Shaggydog Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 you read my minds. LOL Minds - exactly. I want in on that tea session. Although you know Gandalf would show up with some of that Hobbiton leaf, and shit would just go downhill from there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sifth Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Aemon really should have stayed to help Egg rule Egg was a very well loved king to be sure, and did a lot of good, but I think with Aemon's help he could have been even better and the the people would only be the happier for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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