[SPOILERS] Favorite little historical moments from Fire&Blood

[Corvinus85]

I've just now reached the Dance portion, but I'm mostly familiar with that.

From the Old King's reign, one of my favorites was the confrontation between Septon Barth and the Sealord of Braavos.

Alysanne's arguments as to why the right of the first night needed to be abolished was another.

[LordSeaSnake]

Really enjoyed Alyn Oakenfist destroying the Sealord of Braavos' pride of his fleet. So badass, with artwork to top it off.

[Euron III Greyjoy]

I really enjoyed reading through Aegon III regency. 

[AzureOwl]

I am ashamed to admit that I found the ever increasing jerkassery of Unwin Peake to be a great exercise in unintended black comedy.

Specially the Maiden's Day Cattle Show and the lead up to it.

 

[Destiny Arrives]

For me was a small moment when they said queen alicent started to hate the colour green just spoke volumes now she realized that stupid war was not worth it.

 

Also Jaehearys and hsi KG confronting Lord Baratheon on Dragon stone and him coming to get the body of Lord Air 

[Bernie Mac]

On 11/28/2018 at 4:03 AM, LordSeaSnake said:

Really enjoyed Alyn Oakenfist destroying the Sealord of Braavos' pride of his fleet. So badass, with artwork to top it off.

I enjoyed that, but like that it was also pointed out how wreckless and costly it was, just like his deal with Lys was. GRRM gives us the reasons he's loved but also how wrong they were. 

Can't wait to hear more about Alyn of Hull under Aegon III and Daeron I. 

[The Sleeper]

I liked Unwin Peake's resignation. It was really funny how he thought people wouldn't jump at the chance to be rid of him. 

[Traverys]

Honestly, I enjoyed all new information we get about female Targaryens.

• Rhaenys (the Queen that Never Was) will always still be my favorite. Back in the Princess and the Queen, her final flight at Rook's Rest gave me chills.
• Finally learning more about Good Queen Alysanne and how she was such an exceptional person. Her Women's Court was a very interesting inclusion, and it's curious none of her daughters of granddaughters ever sought to continue that tradition. Specifically, her Women's Court in Mole's Town was very unexpected and speaks to her sense of duty towards the entire realm, including the "untouchables."
• Rhaena (the Queen of the West) is also a very interesting character, and I enjoy the subtle hints throughout that she preferred the company of women. I actually was a little disappointed when the narrative hinted how she married the second Farmore son to stay near his sister. I think it made it obvious without that explicit comment. The complicated relationship she had with Aerea was very "Mommie Dearest." She kept her daughter near her as a possession, especially after she had lost everyone else to poison. How she transformed from a girl that doted on her siblings like a mother to such a hard, cold woman is very understandable as you follow her. I'd be even more curious to find out how she and her first husband (Aegon, son of Aenys) got along considering her sexual preferences.
• Aerea... wow... how very Lovecraftian. Still don't know what to make of this one! BUT, now we know Balerion the Black Dread also had female riders.
• Elissa Farman!
• Am I the only person that actually likes Rhaenyra? It's just too bad all the tragedy that visits her in the loss of her children warps what was once "the Realm's Delight." It also makes me wonder if she would have been more successful if she had maintained her figure (like Queen Alicent Hightower). I hate to say it, but a Queen's beauty plays a role in her legitimacy. Also, I guess it all depends on if you think she was the true heir or not. It's so unfortunate that her defeat pretty much disqualified all future women from ever inheriting the throne. Except ones with 3 dragons.
• I'm sure there are more women I'm not thinking of at this moment. Those are just the ones on the surface of my mind.

I'm just now finishing the DotD sections. Most of the stuff included in there is just a repeat with some additional details here and there... honestly had to skim the battles towards the end. Not as exciting reading them for a third time.

I also have enjoyed trying to keep track of all the dragon eggs! I think the ones that Elissa Farman stole and sold are perhaps a little too obvious to be the ones Daenerys ended up getting. But so far they seem the likeliest candidates. I'd be more impressed if it turns out some of these single eggs (such as the one Viserys II carried when he was captured on a ship during DotD) were collected by someone and eventually given to Daenerys at her wedding.

Back to reading! Rhaenyra about to get eaten...

[Lord Varys]

Women really shine as personalities in that book. As I think I said a couple of times already - Rhaena is George's best female character up to that point, perhaps one of his most nuanced characters in total. And I speak not just about this historical stuff, but the entire series.

What makes her so great, I think, is that we really get her entire biography, from childhood to (reasonably) old age.

Among Jaehaerys' children the women are the ones who are characters (and Vaegon), Aemon and Baelon don't really have depth. They are great princes, etc. but they don't really have personality. Alyssa and especially Daella and Saera are three-dimensional characters - Viserra to a certain degree, and even the first Daenerys is an adoring child that comes alive.

Aerea doesn't get as much space but we get a good grasp of her as well.

Rhaenyra becomes a much more tragic character in this full account - she has her flaws, but she is clearly no monster. In fact, part of her problem is that she is perhaps not monstrous enough (e.g. her reluctance to intervene during the riots and the Storming of the Dragonpit) and that she was really surrounded by shitty counselors (including those Manderlys). The way she was publicly humiliated by Daemon also makes her lashing out at Nettles much more understandable.

In light of Rhaena's description chances are pretty high that Laena was in fact either also homosexual or at least bisexual - and Rhaenyra bisexual as well. She supposedly became 'more than fond' of Laena. Also, we have Laena not being interested in boys as a maid.

Viserys' egg is never taken from him, by the way. He brings it back to KL when he returns.

One should read TDotD in detail, never mind that a lot of content might look familiar. A lot of interesting tidbits are missing.

18 hours ago, The Sleeper said:

I liked Unwin Peake's resignation. It was really funny how he thought people wouldn't jump at the chance to be rid of him. 

The way his career turned out I actually like it now that we translated his given name as 'Unsieg' into German - which means essentially 'not won' or 'not victorious' ;-). It really seems George wanted this to be a telling name...

[Destiny Arrives]

4 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Women really shine as personalities in that book. As I think I said a couple of times already - Rhaena is George's best female character up to that point, perhaps one of his most nuanced characters in total. And I speak not just about this historical stuff, but the entire series.

What makes her so great, I think, is that we really get her entire biography, from childhood to (reasonably) old age.

Among Jaehaerys' children the women are the ones who are characters (and Vaegon), Aemon and Baelon don't really have depth. They are great princes, etc. but they don't really have personality. Alyssa and especially Daella and Saera are three-dimensional characters - Viserra to a certain degree, and even the first Daenerys is an adoring child that comes alive.

Aerea doesn't get as much space but we get a good grasp of her as well.

Rhaenyra becomes a much more tragic character in this full account - she has her flaws, but she is clearly no monster. In fact, part of her problem is that she is perhaps not monstrous enough (e.g. her reluctance to intervene during the riots and the Storming of the Dragonpit) and that she was really surrounded by shitty counselors (including those Manderlys). The way she was publicly humiliated by Daemon also makes her lashing out at Nettles much more understandable.

In light of Rhaena's description chances are pretty high that Laena was in fact either also homosexual or at least bisexual - and Rhaenyra bisexual as well. She supposedly became 'more than fond' of Laena. Also, we have Laena not being interested in boys as a maid.

Viserys' egg is never taken from him, by the way. He brings it back to KL when he returns.

One should read TDotD in detail, never mind that a lot of content might look familiar. A lot of interesting tidbits are missing.

The way his career turned out I actually like it now that we translated his given name as 'Unsieg' into German - which means essentially 'not won' or 'not victorious' ;-). It really seems George wanted this to be a telling name...

This is so true the women in the book really shined didn't feel Rhaena in the end but you are right well written character would love a POV from her during the reigns of her dad uncle and bro. 

Oh also shout out to the mention of the conqueror himself crying when he say his grand daughter never expected to get that side of Aegon.

[Ser Walter of AShwood]

I just received my dutch copy of the book yesterday, and was quite busy with study/work/2 kids and rewatching the show season 5, so I only just read the first part.

I didn't realise that Orys Baratheon was Aegons bastard brother. I always assumed that Roberts claim to the Throne was because his grandmother was Rhaelle Targaryen, Aegon V Targaryen's youngest daughter. I never really realised that there was (most likely) already Targaryen blood in the Baratheon line from the start (even if Orys was a bastard).

So that was an eye opener in the first few pages of the book. I wonder what's more in store for me.