Would the Blacks have kept fighting even without Aegon the Younger?

[BlackLightning]

10 hours ago, Lilac & Gooseberries said:

And what a nice example of justice. The crown returns to the line of the woman who should had be Queen if Jaehaerys wasn't such a misogynist.

Exactly.

Jaehaerys' decision to snub his granddaughter not once, not twice but three times will always blow my mind...

The realm would've been better off if Rhaenys was Queen and Baelor's line became the hereditary Princes and Princesses of Dragonstone. As far as Laenor's family name, that easy to account for. Proclaim him a Targaryen by royal decree and marry him to Rhaenyra. Corlys wouldn't be upset at all; I'm sure he had another Velaryon male relative he could marry Laena to and thus secure House Velaryon's rule over Driftmark.

[James Steller]

1 hour ago, BlackLightning said:

Exactly.

Jaehaerys' decision to snub his granddaughter not once, not twice but three times will always blow my mind...

The realm would've been better off if Rhaenys was Queen and Baelor's line became the hereditary Princes and Princesses of Dragonstone. As far as Laenor's family name, that easy to account for. Proclaim him a Targaryen by royal decree and marry him to Rhaenyra. Corlys wouldn't be upset at all; I'm sure he had another Velaryon male relative he could marry Laena to and thus secure House Velaryon's rule over Driftmark.

There was always Daemon to consider, though. He was happy to seduce and marry both Laena and Rhaenyra in order to secure his own position. Say what you will about Jaehaerys, but Daemon was always going to cause trouble, even by simply existing. He was the Littlefinger of his day, in that he was a selfish guy with monstrous ambitions, sowing chaos wherever he went.

[Lord Varys]

18 hours ago, BlackLightning said:

Exactly.

Jaehaerys' decision to snub his granddaughter not once, not twice but three times will always blow my mind...

The realm would've been better off if Rhaenys was Queen and Baelor's line became the hereditary Princes and Princesses of Dragonstone. As far as Laenor's family name, that easy to account for. Proclaim him a Targaryen by royal decree and marry him to Rhaenyra. Corlys wouldn't be upset at all; I'm sure he had another Velaryon male relative he could marry Laena to and thus secure House Velaryon's rule over Driftmark.

In such a scenario Laenor and Laena would have likely married each other to keep the new royal bloodline of the Velaryon-Targaryens pure rather than there being a marriage including Rhaenyra.

Driftmark could go to other children by Rhaenys and Corlys or to younger children of Laenor and Laena.

If Rhaenys and Laenor had sat the Iron Throne they would have decided how the family would be named, anyway. I don't think they would have bothered with a Targaryen name for Laenor - after all, Rhaenyra also didn't bother naming her children by Laenor 'Targaryen'. Neither did Rhaenys when she had children with Corlys.

17 hours ago, James Steller said:

There was always Daemon to consider, though. He was happy to seduce and marry both Laena and Rhaenyra in order to secure his own position. Say what you will about Jaehaerys, but Daemon was always going to cause trouble, even by simply existing. He was the Littlefinger of his day, in that he was a selfish guy with monstrous ambitions, sowing chaos wherever he went.

Daemon was pretty much non-factor in the political game until Viserys I was foolish enough to call him back to court in 103 AC. Jaehaerys I had married him off to the Royces, so he could have been stuck at Runestone all his life if the Velaryons had taken control of the throne.

A Queen Rhaenys or a King Laenor may have included amicable Viserys into his court and government, but Daemon would have been the younger son of a younger son of the Old King. A guy the main branch of the royal dynasty could have completely ignored.

[BlackLightning]

3 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

In such a scenario Laenor and Laena would have likely married each other to keep the new royal bloodline of the Velaryon-Targaryens pure rather than there being a marriage including Rhaenyra.

Driftmark could go to other children by Rhaenys and Corlys or to younger children of Laenor and Laena.

If Rhaenys and Laenor had sat the Iron Throne they would have decided how the family would be named, anyway. I don't think they would have bothered with a Targaryen name for Laenor - after all, Rhaenyra also didn't bother naming her children by Laenor 'Targaryen'. Neither did Rhaenys when she had children with Corlys.

I don't think they would've married Laenor and Laena to each other. Rhaenys and Corlys had a bit more sense than that and likely saw the value in marrying Laenor and Laena to one of their Targaryen cousins or another great lord.

I can see how the name issue is a problem though. Rhaenys can keep the Targaryen name but the Targaryen dynasty ends with her unless something is done with Laenor.

[Lord Varys]

3 hours ago, BlackLightning said:

I don't think they would've married Laenor and Laena to each other. Rhaenys and Corlys had a bit more sense than that and likely saw the value in marrying Laenor and Laena to one of their Targaryen cousins or another great lord.

It doesn't look like that. They seem to have saved Laena for Viserys I should Aemma die in childbirth as she did ... and then Corlys decided to marry her to the son of a Sealord, indicating he had no further interest in a match within the Targaryen family nor with a great lord of Westeros. Rather he seemed to have tried to strengthen his ties with Braavos, possibly for an attempted coup further down the line.

The Laenor-Rhaenyra match further down the line is an idea of Viserys I and his council, something they come up to finally get the Velaryons back into the fold. Corlys and Rhaenys apparently didn't come up with that match.

Sibling incest is Targaryen tradition, so if Rhaenys had become Heir Apparent to the Iron Throne and had succeeded Jaehaerys I I'm pretty sure she would have married her children to each other. Especially since that could have made it much easier to keep Laenor's sexual preferences under the rug. If Laenor had married an outsider and another man had fathered his children - which would have been rather likely - then this could not have only muddied the succession but caused the death of such children if they had tried to mount dragons.

Children of Laenor and Laena would have the blood of the dragon on at least one side, meaning they should have been able to become dragonriders and the chances would have been pretty good that they also looked Valyrian.

3 hours ago, BlackLightning said:

I can see how the name issue is a problem though. Rhaenys can keep the Targaryen name but the Targaryen dynasty ends with her unless something is done with Laenor.

If they cared about the name they could call themselves Targaryen. They would have been the ones in charge. However, that they neither Rhaenys nor Rhaenyra named her children 'Targaryen' strongly implies they didn't care all that much about the name.

And that makes sense. The dragonriding Velaryons were as prestigious as the Targaryens and Corlys was the greatest man of his generation, anyway. Why should they not want to go with the Velaryon name?

House Targaryen may have a storied history in Valyria, but that means little and less in Westeros. As a royal dynasty the Targaryens are very young in the 90s AC. Jaehaerys I is just the grandson of Aegon the Conqueror, after all.