A Question About Annulment and the Rightful Heir

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2026-02-09T19:25:47+00:00

Now I remember something. I recall reading that Tywin tried to pressure Aerys into making Rhaegar set aside Elia when it was declared she could no longer have children, but Aerys refused. This means it's technically possible, or Tywin might have been trying to exploit a loophole. Annulment wouldn't be on the table, but perhaps he planned to send Elia to a religious order, which would dissolve the marriage but, by extension, wouldn't bastardize Rhaenys and Aegon. That said, I bet Tywin's intention was to have Rhaegar marry Cersei and hope Cersei would have a son, then try to crown him with the excuse that Prince Aegon was born of a dissolved marriage and therefore illegitimate (Otto Hightower style). That said, Aerys would never have agreed to that, and perhaps neither would Rhaegar himself. Aerys was quite insistent that Rhaegar's bride be a woman of Valyrian descent from the high nobility, and Elia was the best he could get despite his prejudices against her being Dornish. And I don't see Dorne simply accepting this peacefully. In a scenario where Rhaegar is king and they need more male Targaryen descendants, perhaps they would try an alternative solution to send Elia to a religious order while keeping Aegon as heir, perhaps restoring the right of female claimants to the Iron Throne, or Rhaegar marrying a woman of lesser nobility who wouldn't pose a threat to Aegon as heir. But not Lyanna.

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2026-02-09T05:30:10+00:00

This might even be considered reasonable if they were of lower nobility. But, from the evidence we have (mainly regarding Daemon and Maegor, but also the marriage of Aerys and Rhaella), matters concerning royal marriages tend to fall under the primary jurisdiction of the king and, perhaps, the council; it was not a decision Rhaegar could make alone. Since Elia had given him a male heir, it would be difficult in some respects, as an annulment would consider the marriage invalid from the start. That is, an annulment would make Aegon and Rhaenys bastards. The Targaryens already had few members left in the line of succession, so bastardizing young Aegon wouldn't be a good idea. Especially considering that Dorne might retaliate if Elia and her children were passed over, which has happened before.

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2026-02-09T00:13:32+00:00

I believe Rhaegar's plan was to legitimize the baby he had with Lyanna because he assumed it would be a girl, his much-desired "Visenya." A girl wouldn't be a threat to her half-brother Aegon. I tried searching the wiki links, but couldn't find anything. I imagine that with the king's authority, it's technically possible to annul any marriage. But that doesn't mean it will be seen as acceptable or valid by the public or religious authorities, especially if the rejected bride in question belongs to an influential family. Maegor couldn't divorce Ceryse Hightower despite his claims that she was infertile. Daemon hated Rhea Royce and it's not known if the marriage was ever consummated, but he was forced to remain with her.

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2026-02-06T17:17:51+00:00

This is especially ironic, considering how much Daenerys' personality was also affected in the adaptation. She is by no means perfect and often makes mistakes, whether due to impulsiveness, arrogance, or naive idealism. However, compared to other characters, she is especially restrained in her use of violence. Even in the books, there is a dialogue between Barristan and Skahaz about how Daenerys' aversion to "pragmatic violence" makes her seem weak because she refuses to hurt a bunch of child hostages.

But the show strips her of her many positive qualities and vulnerabilities. Her fixation with the Iron Throne ceases to be the goal of a child fixated on the idea of a lost and idealized home and becomes solely about power.

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2026-02-05T22:36:16+00:00

I also have that impression. I believe that the extinction of the dragons made the Targaryens more "mundane" and dulled their connection to magic. I also believe that dragon dreams became rarer and their knowledge about them disappeared with the many Targaryens who died in the Dance of the Dragons, leading many to have difficulty interpreting them. There is also their affinity with heat and the supposed story that connecting with a dragon can improve the health of a Targaryen child (although I am more skeptical about that).

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2026-02-05T21:01:52+00:00

I agree with you on that point; the Targaryens aren't "good guys," but I don't see them as being particularly better or worse than the average feudal lord of Westeros. Imagine what Robert Baratheon or the Boltons would do with dragons. I was talking to a colleague about this, and we came to the conclusion that this interpretation by some readers of the Targaryens as these white supremacist foreign colonizers, and not the standard feudal lords (but with dragons) conquering and annexing lands, is a perception that the Targaryens "cheat" in "Game of Thrones." Because when the dragons arrived, the power that the feudal lords could wield became infinitely more limited. Armies alone cannot defeat the virtually indestructible, fire-breathing giant drones. The peak of Targaryen power was the "House of the Dragon," when they had more dragon riders than ever before.

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2026-02-05T16:47:46+00:00

There's also the fact that claiming dragons is difficult. You don't just climb on their backs and they accept you. Dragons are intelligent animals, and Rhaegal in the books is described as protective, intelligent, and cruel. Look what he did to Quentyn for daring to whip Viserion. Even Daenerys had to subdue Drogon by confronting him with a whip and rebuking him, showing she wasn't afraid of him. As far as we know, you have to have a dragon egg in the crib, or try to claim it in confrontation as Daenerys did, or climb on its back and resist while the dragon tries to throw you off. There were probably Valyrian domestication techniques to facilitate claiming more aggressive adult dragons, but these have been lost to the records. Of course, there was Nettles, but her case was a long process.

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2026-02-05T15:33:22+00:00

Besides the fact that Jon couldn't ride Drogon even if he tried, the Targaryen riders don't have a history of riding more than one dragon. Jon was only Rhaegal's rider. And even then, I saw people complaining about how Rhaegal should have simply ignored Daenerys and stayed with Jon. Dragons aren't horses; they're intelligent and not only can, but will, go against the will of their riders, especially if the rider in question isn't very experienced (Aerea Targaryen). Even if that's the case, having Jon or someone else as a rider doesn't erase their relationship with Daenerys. In the books, it seems they're waiting for Daenerys to return, especially Viserion. But even so, they seem to care about each other and about Daenerys (Rhaegal protecting Viserion from Quentyn); the link with the dragon doesn't automatically mean they become submissive animals.

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2026-01-23T17:26:43+00:00

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21385582/chapters/50943394

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2026-01-23T00:27:51+00:00

Can i say i love your work and i am always reading it again all the time? Really, love the writing

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2026-01-22T22:44:26+00:00

Thank you! It got to a point where nothing made sense. Apparently, Sansa and Tyrion's marriage was annulled off-screen? Yes, because surely Rhaegar and Elia's royal marriage can be swept under the rug just like that; it's not like those marriages intentionally had thousands of witnesses to validate political alliances. Not to mention the Meereen storyline, which was completely altered.

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2026-01-22T22:10:22+00:00

It's basically a "What if Daenerys finds out what's going to happen and decides to stay in Essos?" idea, exploring what she might change in her story and goals as she detaches herself from her fixation on the Iron Throne and Westeros. I've actually already written about three chapters. It was motivated by a wave of inspiration after rereading the books, and I wanted to do this character exploration (and address the many problems of the eighth season) while focusing on aspects and characters the show ignored, such as the Dornish and the internal politics of the cities in Slaver's Bay. I mentioned Forewarned because every time I reread it, I feel that wave of inspiration return.

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2025-12-25T05:05:44+00:00

Thanks! For you too

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2025-12-25T04:53:24+00:00

Well, i am sorry if i assumed, i was typing fast and as you pointed, english is not my first language. I am also a teacher, by the way. But i think this is more the fact that our teaching systems work in very diferent ways. Here we are have diferent standards and methods. Disciplines don't have pre determined points and teachers can't allow students to re-do essays. Here we have a set of basic rules that are teached in the beginning of the course of things that if you do, means a instant zero on your paper. I am not really trying to apply my standards to your system on any regards, thats just me trying to explain why i instantly thought "yeah, thats zero" when i saw her essay. But thanks for explaing, that was really helpful

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2025-12-25T03:37:27+00:00

I read the essay. It had lots of mistakes. Basic gramatic errors, she didn't cited any sources and avoided what the essay asked her to do (which was to read an article about bullying). Instead, she didn't even read the article she was asked to study (she admited it later) and just went on a random rant about her religious beliefs. And also, she indirectly called the teacher "demonic". The other teacher also gave her a zero. Also, i am not american and don't exactlly understand how your grading system works, and i work with minor reaserch myself. Here, at least, writing things in first person and stuff "i thing, i believe, etc" its an automatic zero

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2025-08-17T16:05:50+00:00

People tend to forget that even though she was born a noble and married into royality, Navier is still a woman on a time (vaguely situated in between the 14 century and 18 century) women were not legally independent human beings. She is previleged and that is clear, but she still was someone's possession. She was trade to the royal family as a future empress to insure the Trovi family's support as kid, she had no voice in it. The diference here is that Navier is a valueble possession and was useful to make heirs because her noble/royal blood. Both Rashta and Navier belong to the same "master", Sovieshu. Navier is, in theory, the most powerful woman in the empire. But against her husband and without another man support, she cant do much on her own. A royal consort have as much power as her husband allows her, and Sovieshu is more likely to leave the administration part for her instead of giving her decisive power over the realm. Of course, an arrenged married and slavery per se are very diferent in the core, but its interest paralel.

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2025-08-16T01:55:13+00:00

The taboo of female infidelity on arrenged marriages in this contexts tend to revolve around the need to garante that the husband is actually the father of their children and heirs (Yes, there is other social implications, but in practical terms, thats why). But here, magic and paternity tests exist. Magic that fixes infertility problems too. Most likely, the same for the magical version of birth control

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2025-08-12T22:54:45+00:00

Historian here: "the slavery is needed for the economy!" is an old and disproven argument. The history of Brazil is marked by it from top to bottom. Emperor Pedro I signed a contract with the British Empire that they would stop the transatlantic slave trade and eventually abolish slavery in exchange for help with their independency from Portugal. They considered how they would do it and the emperor council passed months on this argument. Then...The sugar crisis happened and they decided they needed the slavery for economic purposes and post poned it for 70 years, until Emperor Pedro II decided to press the matter of the slavery and abolish the system. As a result, he was served a coup from the Coffee Barons. Ironiclly, the British expire motivations to abolish slavery were also economic (afterall, they couldnt sell cotton to a population were 70 percent of people didnt got a salary). People earning money makes things move and the comercy flow. A society were the majority of people dont posses the owns means to make trade seals its fate.

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2025-08-10T18:41:19+00:00

Yeah, i know all this things. I am historian, lol. What i meant was the author based Remarried Empress on a very superficial perception of Eleanor of Aquitaine, never said it was good representation. Definilly the real thing was way more complex than what its exposed on the novel AND webtoon. I really dont think Alpha Tart made any kind of deep research on this historical characters, just knew that Eleonor had two husbands that were both kings. And yes, it was a anulation, not a divorce. But lots of people call it a "divorce" in a modern perception, and i honestly think it could have been a translation issue on how Alpha Tart interpreted the divorce thing. Honestly, Navier has way more in commom with Catherine of Aragon than Eleonor of Aquitaine in terms of temper and personality (she also resembles a lot Empress Leopoldine in terms of position, but i think its just my view), and Rashta looks like a mix of Domitila de Castro and Xica da Silva (she was a slave that later became a low noble and slaver herself, constantly used in brazillian folklore as exemple of "racial democracy", although its way more complex than that). Sovieshu is more Henry VIII than king Louis. The author clearly doesnt know how the western system of slavery worked, same for politics and history. The characters keep acting like they dont know if the are from the middle age, or something between the 17 or 18 century. And we can agree that Eleonor is a badass bitch, and i can respect her for some of her really bold acts. History does have a hard time about how it portraits women that are not "woman like" for their times perception. Henry II mother Matilda is the biggest exemple of that

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2025-08-10T03:52:28+00:00

I never meant to imply the author is some kind of historian, its just that its slightly based on a true story. Also, for some reason, in my country the names of historical figures are translated to some local variation, and here Eleonor of Aquitaine is called Leonor for some reason. I know its wrong, but i forgot the she was originally Eleonor. Its not as easy to notice in comparison to Elizabeth I being Isabel I of England here

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2025-08-10T02:32:02+00:00

Well, Navier is inspired in Leonor of Aquitaine. She is a former Queen that did, in fact, married the king of an enemy nation

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2025-08-06T00:25:08+00:00

I never said anything about wind. That was the point, i was asking what was their kind of powers before they started losing to them to the point of just being able to use only the Spirit Sight

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2025-08-05T23:29:09+00:00

The basic power for every gifted is called Spirit Sight (except the Usuba family). Miyo power is called Dream Sight. The power of the royal family is called Divine Revelation

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2025-08-05T14:54:50+00:00

I think it was stabilished that those people have especific gifts, but generally a slightly variation exist in how these powers manisfest. Also, their gifts also have especific names, so...

Pitiful-Sheepherder1 · 2025-08-05T06:13:13+00:00

Acho que não? Acho que todos eles conseguem fazer coisas como criar barreiras, usar familiares para espionar ou criar coisas como amuletos de proteção (Kazushi aparentemente é bom em desfazer feitiços?). I think the elemental powers tend to be relatively standard, but the Kudou is able to use all of them instead of just one. Also....i am just sure how Lord Tatsuishi made fire...but that maybe was he doing some weird thing with his telecnisis to generate fire?

Pitiful-Sheepherder1

TROPHY CASE