The Marriage That Never Was

[Vaith]

So, the year is about 85 AC, and you are Jaehaerys I Targaryen.

Aemon Targaryen is the Prince of Dragonstone and heir to the Iron Throne, but he's only had one daughter, Rhaenys, and he and Jocelyn Baratheon don't seem to have much luck on producing an heir. Somewhat concerning, right? But hey, Alysanne has recognised that Rhaenys should probably be a valid heir of Aemon, so let's see if we can promote her agenda.

Well, at least if Aemon dies without a son, he has a brother, Baelon the Brave, who has two sons that have survived early infancy! And the eldest, Viserys, could also be the heir to the Iron Throne instead of Rhaenys! And he's only 3 years younger than her! Hang on... well, what if they married? No matter if Rhaenys or Viserys inherits, there won't have to be much of a dispute since one will be the other's consort anyway, and there are no diverging branches that could threaten House Targaryen in the future.

Ah, but you don't make that connection. Maybe you are too busy grieving for all your daughters that are dying... and when Alysanne leaves you in the First Quarrel, Rhaenys asks you for permission to marry Lord Velaryon. Their children will likely be Velaryons, and Aemon still doesn't have a son, but you don't recognise Rhaenys as a valid heir, perhaps, so you allow it. And then when Aemon dies with no son... well, the succession can-of-worms begins.

So...

Is Rhaenys/Viserys the worst missed opportunity in the history of the Iron Throne? Even if Viserys is the only one who is ruling in his own right, with a dragonrider wife, Viserys will likely be a little more inclined to listen to a firm hand that might guide him away from a more corrupt regime. There is no split in House Targaryen as Rhaenys might be content with being queen, even if that means queen consort. Rhaenys would probably not be alarmingly young during the consummation, unlike Aemma Arryn, and is likely to give a number of healthy children to Viserys and less likely to die in childbirth ... so you likely do end up preventing the Dance.

Ah, the match that was always there, that could have been, that never was.

[Lord Varys]

Sure, this is one of the obvious matches, and one is flabbergasted that George never addressed why this match didn't happen.

There is some underlying stuff there with Rhaenys apparently arranging her own marriage (likely with the permission and support of her father, Prince Aemon) rather than one being arranged for her, but it is very odd that Jaehaerys I and Alysanne did not put the Rhaenys-Viserys on the table and forced it through when Rhaenys was, say, about 10-12 since that would have been around the time Rhaenys would have been considered to be too old to marry a younger brother had her parents ever been able to produce a son.

Since none of the younger sons of Jaehaerys I lived there was no uncle for Princess Rhaenys to marry, so her first cousin Viserys would have been the first choice.

Vice versa, with Rhaenys taking Corlys, Viserra and Gael (and perhaps even a young Saera) would have been possible matches for Viserys. They were not that far away in age and would have been much better suited brides than young Aemma.

There are a lot of ways to explain how this didn't happen - but the fact that they apparently were never even betrothed just doesn't make much sense. Just as Viserys possibly being betrothed to Viserra or Gael could also have resulted in them not marrying for this or that reason.

As for the succession:

I think it is clear that Aemon's chosen heir was his daughter. There is no question about that. Jaehaerys I seems to have cared only about the generation of his sons, but giving Rhaenys Corlys was basically giving her the greatest man alive. The ideal prince consort and father of kings. It makes no sense to assume that Prince Aemon - who apparently was a very thoughtful guy - never considered the implications of such a match.

If he had been leaning to the idea that his heir once he ruled as king should be his nephew Viserys the obvious way to make that happen easily would have been to marry said nephew to his daughter. That way it would also be ensured that his, Aemon's, blood would sit the throne in the generation after Rhaenys-Viserys - something that should also have been of considerable interest to Aemon.

Aemon even makes it clear that both Lord Corlys and he himself expect Rhaenys to produce a son when he flies to Tarth - and the reason why they want that seems to be pretty clear. They want to ensure the succession of the Iron Throne.

Things only go awry when Aemon predeceases his father and Jaehaerys I chooses Baelon. If they had given Baelon's sons thoughts much thought insofar as the succession was concerned then both boys would have been betrothed/married in the 80s AC - to Rhaenys, Viserra, and Gael, say - rather than there only be rather hasty and obscure marriages that take place in the 90s. Especially the Daemon-Rhea match really looks like Jaehaerys I/Baelon doing anything in their power to rid the court of Daemon. As husband of the future Lady of Runestone Daemon's place would have been at Runestone, not at his grandfather's or father's court.

Could also be that Aemon secretly still hoped Jocelyn would give him a son when he died - although that ship had either sailed or was fast sailing away, considering that Jocelyn was already 38 years old in 92 AC. But he clearly was laying the groundwork for some great grandchildren while not exactly giving his nephews any thoughts in this regard.

Vice versa, it is also very strange that Jaehaerys/Alysanne never actually made attempts - after Daella - to marry one of their daughters to Corlys Velaryon. He was the greatest guy out there, and Saera or Viserra would have been great matches for him - as they would have been for Boremund Baratheon, considering that the guy was still unwed as late as 80 AC.

[VVSINGOFTHECROSS]

22 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Sure, this is one of the obvious matches, and one is flabbergasted that George never addressed why this match didn't happen.

There is some underlying stuff there with Rhaenys apparently arranging her own marriage (likely with the permission and support of her father, Prince Aemon) rather than one being arranged for her, but it is very odd that Jaehaerys I and Alysanne did not put the Rhaenys-Viserys on the table and forced it through when Rhaenys was, say, about 10-12 since that would have been around the time Rhaenys would have been considered to be too old to marry a younger brother had her parents ever been able to produce a son.

Since none of the younger sons of Jaehaerys I lived there was no uncle for Princess Rhaenys to marry, so her first cousin Viserys would have been the first choice.

Vice versa, with Rhaenys taking Corlys, Viserra and Gael (and perhaps even a young Saera) would have been possible matches for Viserys. They were not that far away in age and would have been much better suited brides than young Aemma.

There are a lot of ways to explain how this didn't happen - but the fact that they apparently were never even betrothed just doesn't make much sense. Just as Viserys possibly being betrothed to Viserra or Gael could also have resulted in them not marrying for this or that reason.

As for the succession:

I think it is clear that Aemon's chosen heir was his daughter. There is no question about that. Jaehaerys I seems to have cared only about the generation of his sons, but giving Rhaenys Corlys was basically giving her the greatest man alive. The ideal prince consort and father of kings. It makes no sense to assume that Prince Aemon - who apparently was a very thoughtful guy - never considered the implications of such a match.

If he had been leaning to the idea that his heir once he ruled as king should be his nephew Viserys the obvious way to make that happen easily would have been to marry said nephew to his daughter. That way it would also be ensured that his, Aemon's, blood would sit the throne in the generation after Rhaenys-Viserys - something that should also have been of considerable interest to Aemon.

Aemon even makes it clear that both Lord Corlys and he himself expect Rhaenys to produce a son when he flies to Tarth - and the reason why they want that seems to be pretty clear. They want to ensure the succession of the Iron Throne.

Things only go awry when Aemon predeceases his father and Jaehaerys I chooses Baelon. If they had given Baelon's sons thoughts much thought insofar as the succession was concerned then both boys would have been betrothed/married in the 80s AC - to Rhaenys, Viserra, and Gael, say - rather than there only be rather hasty and obscure marriages that take place in the 90s. Especially the Daemon-Rhea match really looks like Jaehaerys I/Baelon doing anything in their power to rid the court of Daemon. As husband of the future Lady of Runestone Daemon's place would have been at Runestone, not at his grandfather's or father's court.

Could also be that Aemon secretly still hoped Jocelyn would give him a son when he died - although that ship had either sailed or was fast sailing away, considering that Jocelyn was already 38 years old in 92 AC. But he clearly was laying the groundwork for some great grandchildren while not exactly giving his nephews any thoughts in this regard.

Vice versa, it is also very strange that Jaehaerys/Alysanne never actually made attempts - after Daella - to marry one of their daughters to Corlys Velaryon. He was the greatest guy out there, and Saera or Viserra would have been great matches for him - as they would have been for Boremund Baratheon, considering that the guy was still unwed as late as 80 AC.

I agree with you there, it seems GRRM tried to write the material to suit earlier things written, and kinda missed a trick here.

 

On one note, how do you know Boremund was still unwed by 80 A.C.?

[Lord Varys]

2 minutes ago, VVSINGOFTHECROSS said:

On one note, how do you know Boremund was still unwed by 80 A.C.?

Because he is, along with Ser Tymond Lannister and Lord Rodrik Arryn, one of the three final suitors Alysanne offers Princess Daella in 80 AC.

Ah, I remember the good old days when we were wondering who Viserys I may have married, and I vividly recall how confused I was when the description of Rhaenyra from Amok revealed that Viserys I's first wife had been an Arryn of the Vale. Ran told us pretty early that the Arryn queen had had a Targaryen mother, but I always pointed out that Viserys I must have had an army of female kin to pick his brides.

I imagined sisters, aunts, and cousins. As it stands now there was no sister and only two cousins - Rhaenys and Aemma - but a considerable number of suitable aunts in Viserra, Gael, and Saera, if one wants to stretch things a bit. After all, Aemma was also five years younger than Viserys - then it is not exactly all that problematic that Viserra was six years older than Viserys, no?

It is a pity that no explanations are given why a family who practices incestuous marriages did not actually make use of the potential that was there.

And with Jocelyn Baratheon basically marrying her half-nephew in Aemon it is very odd indeed that this did apparently not lead to closer ties between the Baratheons and the Targaryen in the later years of Jaehaerys I. If Jocelyn can marry the heir of the king, then the king's half-brother could surely try to marry one of his half-nieces...

It is also a pity that we never learn anything about Boremund's later wife.

[VVSINGOFTHECROSS]

20 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Because he is, along with Ser Tymond Lannister and Lord Rodrik Arryn, one of the three final suitors Alysanne offers Princess Daella in 80 AC.

Ah, I remember the good old days when we were wondering who Viserys I may have married, and I vividly recall how confused I was when the description of Rhaenyra from Amok revealed that Viserys I's first wife had been an Arryn of the Vale. Ran told us pretty early that the Arryn queen had had a Targaryen mother, but I always pointed out that Viserys I must have had an army of female kin to pick his brides.

I imagined sisters, aunts, and cousins. As it stands now there was no sister and only two cousins - Rhaenys and Aemma - but a considerable number of suitable aunts in Viserra, Gael, and Saera, if one wants to stretch things a bit. After all, Aemma was also five years younger than Viserys - then it is not exactly all that problematic that Viserra was six years older than Viserys, no?

It is a pity that no explanations are given why a family who practices incestuous marriages did not actually make use of the potential that was there.

And with Jocelyn Baratheon basically marrying her half-nephew in Aemon it is very odd indeed that this did apparently not lead to closer ties between the Baratheons and the Targaryen in the later years of Jaehaerys I. If Jocelyn can marry the heir of the king, then the king's half-brother could surely try to marry one of his half-nieces...

It is also a pity that we never learn anything about Boremund's later wife.

For sure, it leaves one to wonder what might have been