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Targaryen Morality


Damsel in Distress

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The Targaryens left behind many of the darker customs of their homeland.  They stopped the practice of slave ownership at some point in their history on Dragonstone.  Aegon fought against the slave-owning state of Volantis and burned their fleet.  Many readers believe the making of Valyrian Steel involve the sacrifice of humans.  Even knowing the value of the metal, the Targaryens themselves did not make attempts to manufacture the weapons for themselves. Prominent Targaryens like Rhaegar settled for regular steel.  Having possession of the last dragons, the Targaryens could have taken advantage and enslaved the Free Cities, made themselves very rich, but instead chose to unify an unruly land in the west.  Allyssane stopped the brutal practice of the lord's right to the first night.  Every family will have its share of asses but I think the Targaryens were pretty good people when compared to most noble families.

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I absolutely agree with this, if the targs had wanted heck they could've conquered both westeros and essos combined, and they truly brought peace to westeros, but many readers forget that and all they think of when they hear the word 'targaryen' is aerys and Maegor. I think a lot of readers don't hate house Targaryen per se but are just jealous of the fact that grrm writes the most about them (I think they are his favourite house) and that they have dragons. Having control of dragons gave them absolute authority but they didn't abuse that, imagine what someone like Roose or theon the hungry wolf would have done if they had dragons. I think we have yet to see a character who cares the most about his people than Dany while most other lords treat small folk like garbage they are her first concern in every decision she makes. 

Anyways haters gon hate but the targs are the good guys and yes they have dragons :)

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I quite like the Targ's but I wouldn't say they were any more moral than any other house in particular. Like any family, they had their good people (Jahaerys I, Alysanne, Daeron II, Aegon I, Dany), their bad people (Maegor, Aerion, Aerys, Rhaenyra, Aegon II) and the rest somewhere in between. The good stuff the Targ's did just carries more impact because they did it on a larger scale than anyone else has ever done.

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I love the Targaryens but I wouldn't go so far as to say they're the good guys. They have some rock stars and some bad eggs, and because of the whole dragon thing they have the potential to be the deadliest of all the Houses. Considering they have the monopoly on magical flying firebombs, I'd say they've been pretty benevolent for the most part.

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As mentioned above the Targaryens were a little of both good and bad.

They have some pretty rotten people in Maegor, Aerys II, Aegon IV and Aerion (and it seems that he might come out to surprise us in the future) while splendid ones in Jaehaerys I, Alysanne, Breakspear, Daeron II and Danaerys, and many grey figures in their ranks.

And while the Targaryens brought good things like Westerosi unity, keeping the Ironborn in check and certain legal reforms, they also seems to have been more prone to infighting than almost any other Great House with a possible exception of the Greyjoys and Durrendons/Baratheons, which resulted in such things as the Dance of the Dragons and the Blackfyre Rebellions. On a note it should be mentioned that when House Baratheon takes the throne they are soon also wracked by internal fighting as well so it could be that this leaning towards division is more to do with holding royal power and less to do with House Targaryen as such.

So in my opinion they had a positive influence on Westeros thanks to them unifying the realm but they also managed some serious screw ups and hit some bumps along the way so that they are not, really not, "the" good guys. I'm not sure any House in its entire existance fits the definition of "good guys". More that some Houses produce more people than others who can be termed "good guys".

 

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All nobility is entitled. Otherwise, they'd be democrats.

 

With that being said, exist some who believe they have a duty towards their people rather than to their own interests or the interests of their kin (e.g. Tywin vs Egg). That, of course, includes the Targaryens. But I wouldn't say many of them do it for the people, but rather for their own. I think, honestly, the only one who actually believes in helping people beyond a paternalist feeling, are Egg and Young Griff (who isn't confirmed to be a Targaryen, but for the sake of discussion, let's say he is).

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43 minutes ago, The Mountain That Flies said:

Is there any mention of why the Targs stopped the practice of slavery, or if it neatly lined up with them moving Dragonstone? 

We'll add guess it has to do with them moving west, to tiny and poor Dragonstone and converting to the Faith of the Seven and generally Andalizing themselves. As such it would probably be bad form and make them a bit of, well, scum in Westerosi eyes if they did keep slaves around. Just the incest thing seems to be hard to swallow for many, or at least it seems to have been in the early years.

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14 hours ago, Damsel in Distress said:

The Targaryens left behind many of the darker customs of their homeland.  They stopped the practice of slave ownership at some point in their history on Dragonstone.  Aegon fought against the slave-owning state of Volantis and burned their fleet.  Many readers believe the making of Valyrian Steel involve the sacrifice of humans.  Even knowing the value of the metal, the Targaryens themselves did not make attempts to manufacture the weapons for themselves. Prominent Targaryens like Rhaegar settled for regular steel.  Having possession of the last dragons, the Targaryens could have taken advantage and enslaved the Free Cities, made themselves very rich, but instead chose to unify an unruly land in the west.  Allyssane stopped the brutal practice of the lord's right to the first night.  Every family will have its share of asses but I think the Targaryens were pretty good people when compared to most noble families.

You might add that the present head of the family is at Slaver's Bay fighting to end the slave culture there. 

It speaks to the Targaryens' sense of morality that they chose to oppose the Volantene ambition to build another powerful slave-owning empire.  Had Aegon supported Volantis, the Targaryens could have ended up ruling the new version of Valyria.  Instead, he chose to go west and help civilize the tribes of westeros.  The Targaryens allowed the north and the ironborn to practice the religion of their own choosing.  They didn't force R'hllor or the Seven on the north.  They were generous rulers. 

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13 minutes ago, Steelshanks Walton said:

help civilize the tribes of westeros

Civilize? Incest is the civilization they brought? :lmao:

13 minutes ago, Steelshanks Walton said:

They didn't force R'hllor or the Seven on the north.

They didn't even followed the Seven as their incest proves, they used the Seven.

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9 hours ago, The Mountain That Flies said:

Is there any mention of why the Targs stopped the practice of slavery, or if it neatly lined up with them moving Dragonstone? 

No slavery in Westeros, probably trying to fit in better with the culture of Westeros. Aegon certainly proved that.

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2 hours ago, maudisdottir said:

They didn't force the population into incest, so it's not a part of the culture outside their House. That has no bearing on Westerosi civilisation.

Even then they had a valid reason to practice incest. To protect the unique trait they had. That is much better than real world nobles who committed incest because they thought they are too superior to mingle with common men. People often make a connection between those to make Targaryens look pompous and arrogant. But the truth is Targs intermarried with a lot of diverse families for a 300 year old house.

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11 hours ago, maudisdottir said:

They didn't force the population into incest, so it's not a part of the culture outside their House. That has no bearing on Westerosi civilisation.

Which would mean that that were only pretending to follow the Seven and they were deluding everyone because they thought they were Über Humans and the laws did not apply to them. How is that morally right?

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On 4/26/2017 at 4:18 AM, Yucef Menaerys said:

I absolutely agree with this, if the targs had wanted heck they could've conquered both westeros and essos combined, and they truly brought peace to westeros, but many readers forget that and all they think of when they hear the word 'targaryen' is aerys and Maegor. I think a lot of readers don't hate house Targaryen per se but are just jealous of the fact that grrm writes the most about them (I think they are his favourite house) and that they have dragons. Having control of dragons gave them absolute authority but they didn't abuse that, imagine what someone like Roose or theon the hungry wolf would have done if they had dragons. I think we have yet to see a character who cares the most about his people than Dany while most other lords treat small folk like garbage they are her first concern in every decision she makes. 

Anyways haters gon hate but the targs are the good guys and yes they have dragons :)

:D  Yes

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3 hours ago, The Doctor's Consort said:

Which would mean that that were only pretending to follow the Seven and they were deluding everyone because they thought they were Über Humans and the laws did not apply to them. How is that morally right?

Tell that to Baelor.

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