Who was the best king?

[Ser Eric]

Yes, I've read it. But as with all history (including fictional histories) not everything you read can be trusted.

Fair enough, though I see no reason to disregard that.

Rhaernya was generally accepted as the heir even by the smallfolk so I'd be more inclined to blame the likes of Criston Cole and his followers than Viserys 1.

[HexMachina]

Fair enough, though I see no reason to disregard that.

Rhaernya was generally accepted as the heir even by the smallfolk so I'd be more inclined to blame the likes of Criston Cole and his followers than Viserys 1.

I suppose its just because I felt the "history" was told more in favour of the Greens than the Blacks but that might just be me :dunno:

Rogue Prince does a lot to inform Viserys I's decisions.

But the Rogue Prince isn't out yet? :idea:

[King Aegon The Conqueror]

Best King?

Well me ofcourse! I united all 7 kingdoms and brought an end to all the constant fighting and united them all!

[Jon's Queen Consort]

Best King?

Well me ofcourse! I united all 7 kingdoms and brought an end to all the constant fighting and united them all!

I am sure that the 55,000 participants at the Field of fire love you :P I believe that the Yellow toad gave you the answer that House Targ deserves: stfu&gtfo :P

[PrimeRhaegar]

Yeah, bending the knee must have been humiliating, especially if the Targs were their sleezy Valyrian selves and laughed when he kneeled.

Aegon I doesn't laugh or smile he just rewards you for your cooperation or kill you for your defiance when did the Targs laugh at anyone during the War of Conquest?

[Ser Eric]

Aegon I doesn't laugh or smile he just rewards you for your cooperation or kill you for your defiance when did the Targs laugh at anyone during the War of Conquest?

True.

Aegon 1 seems to have been a fairly reasonable guy, from what we know about him.

[Jon's Queen Consort]

Aegon I doesn't laugh or smile he just rewards you for your cooperation or kill you for your defiance when did the Targs laugh at anyone during the War of Conquest?

The Yellow toad of Dorne says hi!

[Chatty Duelist]

Stannis.

Jaeherys gets second place the poor lad.

[Aegon the Great]

Stannis is really not that great of a king.

Jaeherys gets my vote.

[LdOfWfll]

The best king is a dead one - apart from Renly. He would of been good sitting on the Iron Throne.

[Nictarion]

Still not as bad as Aegon IV though, you are right about that.

I should hope not, considering GRRM said Aegon IV was the worst king Westeros ever had.

[Veltigar]

But iirc even after Aegon's birth he still had Rhaenyra in the counsil meetings with him and for 22 (?) years Rhaenyra was still the heir. I agree that he should had send the Hightowers back to their watchtower.

Most likely he did not. Not for the full 22 years anyway. The fact that Daemon did not have any position in the ruling of the realm/city to me shows that Rhaenyra and him probably had a falling out with Viserys (perhaps as far back as the eye incident).

Besides the fact that he let her attend council meetings seems rather questionable. Viserys wasn't exactly the ruling type it seems. Most of the times the SC probably took care of things without him being present (another sign of the fact that he's a fool). So, even if Rhaenyra was there she was more just looking at the proceedings (besides crownprincess we have no indication that she held a position of power to prepare her for ruling). That would not be enough for the Lords living farther away. They have no eyes in KL. If he really wanted to avoid conflicts, Viserys II should have made the Lords repeat their oaths of allegiance, then they would have known his wishes without being able to doubt them.

I liked him yes his economics sucked but he had a peacefull reign.

A peaceful reign in and of itself is not enough to speak of a good reign. Otherwise Aegon IV (undoubtedly the worst Westerosi King) would be somewhere at the top since apart from the Toyne incident and his failed attempt to take Dorne his reign appears to have been mighty peaceful.

So, you also need to look at the aftermath of the decisions they took (or not took) during their stint on the IT. And that's where Bobby B fails pretty hard. He bankrupted the realm to pay for his follies, he left the realm at the mercy of the Lannisters (both by the severe debt he owned them and by filling the council with their cronies), he had ridiculous marriage politics (really, marrying Joffrey to Sansa... The Ned was already firm in his pocket, he should have made a match between Margaery and Joffrey from the start), he precided over what is probably the most corrut administration since the founding of KL (thanks to LF) which would in a large part be responsible for tWot5K, he failed to pacify Dorne (which during his reign was independent in all but name), etc.

As an aside his reign wasn't peaceful. There is the Greyjoy Rebellion and IIRC Tywin started his campaign against the Riverlands when he was still alive.

It wasn't in *best king* order rather than *who I thought first* order.

Gotcha.

He was charismatic for me that is essential for a successful leader.

Chizuo Matsumoto, Sjimon bar Kochba, He-who-shall-not-be-named-for-fear-of-invoking-Godwin's-law, Hong Xiuquan and countless other failed leaders where all charismatic. They were also failures.

Charisma is not essential to becoming a succesful leader. It's a great asset for a leader to have, but it's not enough.

So, Daemon was charismatic. But he was also weak between the ears, he was jealous and had a knack for listening to the wrong people. Not exactly leader material.

.

Rhaenyra's second but yes the one who was killed by Hellicent's spawn.

I'm curious why would you pick him? We barely saw him. His elder brother on the other hand, showed that he was made from the right material. Sadly, he was killed by those sailors from the Three Sisters.

I think that Daemon was Tywinlike and like Tywin, Daemon wore no crown, yet he was all a king should be.

Daemon Targaryen isn't like Tywin. More rational when it came to family life, but less effective as a statesman. He was really Oberyn Martell avant la lettre (it's funny when you think of how influential the Targs genes still are in the current stock of Westerosi nobility. Oberyn was Daemon-come-again and Stannis is Maekar-come-again).

I should hope not, considering GRRM said Aegon IV was the worst king Westeros ever had.

Aye, I agree with GRRM here.

Stannis.

Jaeherys gets second place the poor lad.

You know I would refrain from putting Stannis, Daenerys, Faegon or Tommen in here. They aren't dead yet, so their reign could still go all over the place.

Fair enough, though I see no reason to disregard that.

His attitude later on speaks volumes of his "reluctance" to take the IT. It really was just one instance and I'm quite sure that it was written based on the work of that hack Septon Eustace, who IIRC was always there to make a martyr out of the prominent Greens while making the Blacks into demons.

[Aetta]

Aegon IV. Duh.

If not for him, my precious Brynden Rivers would not have lived to crack me up at Whitewalls, to slay at Redgrass Fields, or to prep Bran for the Long Night.

That would suck.

In terms of ruling, I think it was relatively stable under Robert for a long time. Yep, there were skirmishes, but nothing like the Blackfyre Rebellion, the Dance, the Faith Uprising, etc. (FYI, nobody in Westeros or the USA gives a shit about some Greyjoy rebels) Robert spent money like it grew on wierwoods....but since they cut all of the wierwoods down, well, there weren't as many coppers as he surmised. Other than that, Robert stood up pretty well against the likes of the Targaryen kings.

Now, I had not thought about the kings of the 100 kingdoms, and if you are including them, it's a different story. I'm sure there was a very nice King of the Rock, or Storm King, or Stark somewhere along the line.