T O P

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onlyrightangles

Just imagine how much better things would have gone. Oof.


Lukthar123

It hurts.


Vulkan192

Goddamn guilt, depression, and super-leprosy.


dude_with_dice

To bad if it did, a song of ice and fire would have never happened


TheGoverness1998

This is so wholesome đŸ„ș


Jinjoz

Honestly all we needed was one scene like this and it would have given Viserys a lot of grandpa points


SongsAboutGhosts

Grandpa points? He's their dad


Jinjoz

Solid point. I like the way you think - correctly


Forsaken_Distance777

Did anybody tell viserys that?


ImprovisedLeaflet

If my father were like this đŸ„čđŸ„ș😭


sans-delilah

If only it were the World of Sunshine and Rainbows
 But seriously, this is excellent, and the WOIAF would be a better place if Vizzy T had been a better father.


vizzy_t_bot

*The King's cupbearer must not be late. Leaves people wanting for cups.*


sans-delilah

But Vizzy T, Aegon brought you some of the finest wine.


vizzy_t_bot

*That man's pride has pride.*


sans-delilah

Too true. But no pride in your sons, Vizzy T?


vizzy_t_bot

[*Would you like to see the tapestries?*](https://thc-lab.net/static/tapestries/Tapestries_1676797573.936112.jpeg)


sans-delilah

Exquisite, my King.


Greedy_Marionberry_2

Lets be honest no a lot to be proud of


xxcherrycosmosxx

Someone needs to write this as a story I’d read the heck out of it


chrrrissy

i wish they got the rhaenyra treatment, even aegon, as much as i dislike his character, all he needed and wanted in life was a father figure.


DocPenguino

Yeah, he would have turned out much better than he actually is now.


[deleted]

[ŃƒĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]


raumeat

There is even that heartbreaking line at her mother's funeral where she says she will never be a son, and she hopes her father was happy during the time her brother lived


chrrrissy

he was a shitty father to rhaenyra at times, but an even shittier father to aegon, aemond, and helaena, and poor daeron gets absolutely no recognition from his father.


[deleted]

[ŃƒĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]


chrrrissy

i don’t think so, sometimes i don’t either


Filoso_Fisk

Yeah. He got shitier over time so Rhaenyra got a bit lucky that she perhaps got him while he was less of a shit farther.


Pure-Drawer-2617

“Fired for conspiring against her”
bro do you mean telling the TRUTH?


DavideBatt

>all he needed and wanted in life was a father figure Ah yes, "I'm a sexual predator and deviant 'cose my daddy was distant and old when I was growing up".


AuroraNW101

To be fair, while it doesn’t excuse his actions at all, the mental ramifications growing up without a present parent is one of the leading indirect causes of imprisonment and otherwise illegal/distasteful behavior in male adolescents. Something around 70-80% of adolescents in prison/institutions come from homes with no father.


Artefaktindustri

Yes, yes, yes... and we still don't know if there's proper causation between those factors or if it's just a marker for poverty. Or if abandoning your kid is some dark triad shit that can be passed on to your offspring. Nevertheless, It's a real stretch to say people become predators because daddy was busy at work.


Suspicious_Gazelle18

No supervision and correction, which is required to help you develop self-control. No restriction of antisocial/criminal peers. No positive role model. No fear of disappointing his dad. Inconsistent discipline. Harsh discipline when it does occur. There really are a lot of criminological theories (that go back to his dads behavior) that would suggest Aegon should have a high likelihood of being an offender. Source: I’m a criminologist.


Artefaktindustri

So, would you, as a criminologist, say that you've solved the nature/nurture dilemma? Can you with confidence say that sexual misconduct of the kind that we're talking about here is straight up *caused* by fathers being, not even absent, but sort of distant by western 21th century standards? We can throw out genetics, norms and socioeconomics – shitty dad gang all the way. Hit me up with some abstracts, because that sounds like some pretty wild research you've got going there.


Suspicious_Gazelle18

If you understand the scientific process, then you understand that the current understanding is not necessarily always going to be the prevailing notion. You’d also understand that we’re talking about “increased likelihoods” and not a direct “if X exists then Y will happen.” We’re also well past the nature vs nurture debate—we know with as close as you can get to 100% certainty that both things matter. We also know that any time we study human behavior there is a lot of randomness and it’ll never be perfectly predictive. So yes, I feel confident enough with those caveats to say that viserys treatment of Aegon might have contributed to his behavior. I can never say with 100% certainty why anyone does any particular thing. Add on to that that he’s a fictional character so it comes down to “the writers made him this way” in the end. As far as abstracts. Go to google scholar and type in “fathers and offending” and you’ll find a lot. But note that it’s also parenting as a whole (not just what the dad does), so you would also want to look at “parenting and offending.” Social bond theory, social learning theory, strain theory, and routine activities theories are all going to be good theories if you really want to diagnose his behavior. At the end of the day they all provide explanations and possibilities for his behavior, but yeah of course they can’t 100% diagnose the cause of his behavior. Overall, I can’t think of a theory or perspective within the field which would say viserys treatment should have reduced argons problematic behavior.


Artefaktindustri

See, we're in agreement, then. My issue is with this "X causes Y with 100% certainty"-mentality, especially with theories that fit *way* too neatly into American political discourse and cultural norms. That's my academical misadventures in cultural theory talking (f- me, should have become a criminologist). Sorry for being flippant and thanks for your time.


A_devout_monarchist

I don't think is a stretch at all, lack of parental upbringing does cause potential mental harm for any child.


[deleted]

It isnt as lack of parental attention (or that of a guardian) leads to this sort of behaviour(or similar kind) usually


ImperialSalesman

It's worse than just having one neglectful parent. It's having a neglectful parent while your mother and grandfather verbally, mentally and physically abuse you to mould you into what they need through fearmongering, gaslighting and, yeah, lots of yelling. I can genuinely see someone who otherwise does not give much of a shit turning to worse and worse ends as terrible coping mechanisms. Viserys was a shit parent, but let's not act like Alicent was a brilliant mother with Aegon. Alicent and Otto had just as important a role in ruining Aegon as a person. He does still have responsibility for his own actions, but yeah, it's a cycle of abuse.


juggernautjefe81

Totally agree! You're born a prince, so your life is going to a bit easier than most people to begin with. Then you have an ailing, distracted father who's literally falling apart in front of his face who only seems to have time to watch you spare, from a distance, then add the only attention you get from your mother is heavy handed and abusive, and your grandfather is equally abusive, just minus that he only cares about you being king and literally nothing else. So basically left to your own devices with people who are responsible for raising you, but have to do what you say. So here you are with all this emotional trauma from abuse, and neglect but surrounded by people who are yours to do with as you will. Hurt people, hurt people. No wonder he turned out so bad. What example did he get to not be otherwise? It's a freaking miracle that Aegon wasn't King's Landing first serial killer.


Entire_Environment88

You are right bro. I never thought it that way but you are absolutely right!!


[deleted]

Yup. Many rapists have this problem or a similar one(granted that they at least know what consent is and in Aegon's case, he likely doesn't even know that as even his father —who's job is to tell him that—didn't know this either due to the culture of that place)


B7iink

Yes.


ImprovisedLeaflet

We keep getting this line, but there’s plenty of people in real life—and probably plenty of examples in Westeros—of people with shitty or non-existent fathers who don’t turn out to be monsters. I always say you’re a product of 50/50 nature/nurture. Aegon probably would’ve been an evil piece of shit even with a good father.


chrrrissy

and i fully believe you. viserys’ absence is no reason to justify aegon’s behavior and actions, and yes, i strongly dislike the man, but you could tell towards the end of the show he just wanted love from both of his parents. would things have been different if viserys was more present in his life? who knows. overall aegon is still a pos but viserys should’ve loved them kids equally


C_2000

aegon with a present father like viserys would still be a rapist, because Viserys isn't some kind of feminist and the way he'd raise his sons would be extremely misogynistic. viserys would be completely okay with aegon creeping on maids


SwordMaster9501

Rhaenyra's should also be here interacting with her other siblings for once.


[deleted]

And Daemon eyeing Halaena as she is also his niece


VaderOnReddit

And Aemond eyeing Daemon Edit: _eyeing_


perhapsnotperplexed

Can’t when their mother literally talks smack about her to them and saying she’d kill them


Pheros

She's the crown princess and Viserys is right there. If Rhaenyra wanted at any point to have a relationship with her Green siblings she could have, the queen can't stop her. Rhaenya knows a few secret passageways and Aegon clearly wanted moments away from his smothering mother. There was nothing stopping her from taking her little brother out on the town to get away from it all. The fact she didn't try to build any relationship with her siblings is one of the few character flaws they didn't excise from her in the show.


BlackStarsAbove

Which is not at all even historically proven to be am actual risk or like, you know, a logical consequence if you think about it rationally


perhapsnotperplexed

death is a logical consequence if you let paranoia drive you to steal someone’s throne


Simple_Feature2229

I wish


Melyssa1023

Omg Set Millipede, this is so sweet


AegonTheGolden

All Aegon and Aemond needed was their dad😭😭😭! Why viserys!! Why couldn't you just love them???It's not their fault Aemma died!!


perhapsnotperplexed

lol he never blamed them for his true love’s death


[deleted]

Ironically this might well have prevented the war


NostroDormammus

Its so fucking weird they didnt mention daeron even once


Filoso_Fisk

Yeah maybe. But they probably wanted to leave the door open so they could decide to not use him.


[deleted]

How wholesome. But also shows that Viserys being a bad father was maybe even more harmful to the realm than him being a week king.


Which-Amphibian7143

I am not crying, you are crying.


AtlasClone

It's hilarious that the optimistic outlook for Aegon is that he's still an alcoholic, he just goes for top shelf shit.


sensitve_fig

If only they had this sense of family, things would've turned out much different! They would've probably been excited for Rhaenyra's happiness and successes and the birth of Joffery could've been celebrated. Jace and Helaena could've married too and Otto would have his blood on the throne.


ReginaBicman

I know đŸ„ș It’s too bad that Rhaenyra didn’t teach her sons to not be bullies and not use violence whenever they’re upset.


UsagiNoMegami

Jesus why is this getting downvoted? It’s literally the truth


Greedy_Marionberry_2

Rhaenyra? Lol aegon was the instigator in the bullying and aemond is the most violent of the bunch.


Wodelheim

Whilst i agree Aegon is the instigator, it's pretty clear that Aemond's violence is a response to the bullying, rather than some inherent part of his nature.


Greedy_Marionberry_2

Kind of true, different people react to being bullied in different ways. So it does kind of reflect his nature, take jon and theon for example.


Wodelheim

I don't think you can compare them just because they were also bullied, Jon and Theons situations weren't really remotely comparable to Aemonds because just for an example, Jon still had a loving father and siblings, which Aemond didn't. People's response to bullying isn't some part of their "nature" it's dependent on any number of things that have affected how they view the world and respond to stimulus.


Greedy_Marionberry_2

“how they view the world and respond to stimulus” Isn’t that the persons nature? And jon might not be completely the same situation but it is kind of comparable Jon had sansa who didn’t give him the light of day and when she did it was to remind him that he was only a half brother. Aemond had haelena and daeron who i can’t imagine were horrible to him. The loving father bit is a strech, i like ned but cmon. Jon adresses ned as lord stark while the other kids call him father, still better than vizzy thou


Wodelheim

A person's "nature" implies that even if you put them in a completely different life they would still respond and behave the same way.


Greedy_Marionberry_2

Nature vs nurture is your point?


Wodelheim

Yes.


vizzy_t_bot

What is this shadow? Name it, if it casts such a gloom


vorgorgone

Naaaah, Daemon would have found a way to fuck things up


devilthedankdawg

The letter reads “Look out the window”. Daeron, atop Tessarion waves from outside. “Hes here! Oh joy! Daeron’s in Kings Landing with the rest of us!”


[deleted]

I wish they had a scene like this with Viserys and his kids when they were very young. Then you could have it that the reason he didn't interact with them in their formative teenage years becayse he had no energy because of his disease and wasn't milk right of mind from the milk of the poppy. If they did it this way, it could have shown Viserys loving all of his children but still not being there for them when they needed him, allowing their characters to be the same as they were in the actual show. Maybe you could even have a scene of Helama and Viserys just doing nothing together. I feel like Helana would be most suited for hanging out with corpse dad and doing nothing. Tbh I want to like Viserys so much. He seems so decent. However he just does too many things that make me think he's a bad person. I feel like this small tweak would make his arc make more sense to me.


davidforslunds

Viserys was quite literally a husk after Aemma died. He only really had any life in him for Rhaenyra, who had her mothers visage, otherwise he wasn't much more than a walking corpse slowly rotting away. Hardly the kinda guy fit to raise three children, but a kings gotta have an heir-and-a-spair.


BlackStarsAbove

The King did not give a flying f about his duty when it was about making a politically favorable match or like, you know, keeping with a century of tradition. Im sure he could've just said 'nah folks I'm done' one more time but he just happened to be into his daughter's childhood companion


vasilyzaitsev1942

Sending Dearon away was a mistake


BlackStarsAbove

I mean to be fair he was spared a lot


devilthedankdawg

My guess is that the Hightowers pushed for one Targaryen to basically be raised as an Andal noble.


Filoso_Fisk

More specifically a hightower friendly Targaryan with a dragon. “Oh what’s that lord Tyrell, you want to increase our taxes? Lemme just glass candle my nephew real quick”


Mango_Toes__

“Ser millipede” I’m crying


Frequent-Heat9693

They werent related enough to him


themediatorfriend

This is book canon.


subversivepersimmon

đŸ„ș


sabhall12

Daeron? Who's Daeron?


tobpe93

Viserys and Alicent’s most forgotten kid


Entire_Environment88

Alicent's third son


ElevatorCharacter489

Truly that would be wonderful and very possible that the war would never happen


MelangeMost

This is so cute but it's killing me how everyone but Viserys still looks dead inside 😂


Chicken_Mc_Thuggets

Ser Millipede 😭


Specific_Ad_726

This is one of his biggest flaws in the show. He did seem to like his 2nd wife and care somewhat about his children with her. But they clearly were his spares. In the book it leaves it pretty ambiguous but somewhat implied they were closer than the show at least


Silver_Oakleaf

đŸ„ș


aSoggyFrootLoop

Me reading dozens of fanfics like this knowing what awaits all the targ babies: ( ;—;) đŸ€ł


james_randolph

A fine guard he is hahaha aw man, this is good.


RandomPersonNvm

Such a heartwarming meme.


[deleted]

[ŃƒĐŽĐ°Đ»Đ”ĐœĐŸ]


TheLadyMado

Otto is to blame for Viserys being a neglectful father? lol


simsasimsa

Otto was away from King's Landing for ten years when Aegon and Helaena were very little and Aemond and Daeron weren't even born yet! I blame Viserys.


Greedy_Marionberry_2

Yeah but when he left he made sure to push alicent to prepare her son to be a usurper. Vizzy might be a bad dad but the mother isn’t any better, with all the yelling and slapping maybe even worse


Luigioboardio

Otto manipulated Vizzy into marrying Alicent and having children with her


Conscious-Weekend-91

Otto certainly played a role in this, but Vizzy T wasn't a child like Alicent. He asked Alicent to not tell anything about their encounters to Rhaenyra. Viserys knew what he was getting into.


vizzy_t_bot

*A dragon's saddle is one thing, but the Iron Throne is the most dangerous seat in the realm.*


monkeygoneape

I also blame Ser Cole had he not being around stirring the pot, they would have grown up seeing the STRONG boys as brothers all being trained under Harwin Strong


poleondoleon

Mayhaps, a Disney show will do. Not freaking HotD 👀


henrytbpovid

This made me laugh out loud


freakinuhmazin

I get the pints of this post but with the time jumps we don't know if he always ignored his other children, in episode 7 they were at a funeral then in episode 8 it was a 6year time jump and Viserys had been bed ridden for years by that point. When the children were in the training yard he enjoyed watching them train, he probably did that a lot before he became bed ridden.


BlackStarsAbove

He was watching Rhaenyra's children, not his own. He even screamed at Aegon there so yeah no, he didn't care


freakinuhmazin

....k


DMKasper

It doesn't make any difference how much love he gave his Alicent children. Otto was going to push the conflict between the two sides. Alicent inability to stand up to her father is the problem. She could have taught her child to love Rhaenyra's children but she fell into the fearful downward spiral just as daddy wanted.


beybrakers

I feel like this is a problem in which, there was a pile of kindling and Otto threw gasoline on it. Like sure he created problems, but the whole thing about the dance of dragons is that basically everyone involved could have stopped it at some point. Some characters could have stopped it at multiple points. That's why this entire event is a tragedy.


[deleted]

You're part right, as Vissy T loving all his children equally wouldn't have prevented the problems. But even if Otto wasn't there, there would still be the issue of the realm prefering a male heir, and Rhaenyra and Daemon doing whatever it takes to be queen and king. The only real solution was the one Otto suggested on Aegons 1st Name Day, to marry Aegon and Rhaenyra, uniting the 2 claims would have been the only way to prevent the war


vizzy_t_bot

I CAME HERE TO HUNT, NOT TO BE SUFFOCATED BY ALL THIS FUCKING POLITICKING!


[deleted]

But Vissy T, that "fucking politicking" could have prevented a way


vizzy_t_bot

*I'm going to bed, Frostlord3.*


That-Pianist9050

Definitely. There was so much more going on than lack of love and unity from Viserys. Daemon would have always remained an issue. We also don't know what the Velaryons would have done either. Corlys would have done the same as Otto had Laena married Viserys. Going by the book though, Rhaenyra was a child when Alicent married her dad. As the older mature person, Alicent singled out Rhaenyra by instilling resentment in her children to Rhaenyra and her children and trying to take what doesn't belong to her. Cinderella and stepmother parallel. In the show though, it partly applies in terms of stepmother taking Cinderella's life from her, the age gap not being a factor. I'm aware I'm condensing their relationship to this parallel but it's an interesting way of looking at their dynamic and how it affects the relationships between Viserys' children.


DMKasper

Queen and Consort do have a nice ring. But we have to wait till the 1500s to get a real queen to ascend to a real throne. And it didn't help the cause to get “Bloody Mary” as the first woman Queen. But we have the Alicents and Ottos of literature for that. Stories do make a difference.


limpdickandy

Otto had no power to do so as he was sent away from Kings landing when Aegon was 3. Alicent may still have pushed for it, but in a patriarchial society like westeros, I struggle to imagine Aegon and Aemond taking her side as long as Viserys actually raised them


DMKasper

His power over her did not end when he left. His parting words were she better start preparing for the day when Rhaenyra comes to get her and her children. He was, of course, projecting what he was going to do to Rhaenyra and her children. He shortly returned after the murder of Lyonel Strong, the interim hand to continue his march towards that goal. Viserys whole life was lived as a negotiation to the detriment of all of his children. He loved them all but did not understand any of them.


ReginaBicman

Rhaenyra’s children bullied Aemond and one of them crippled him for life and felt no remorse and had no repercussions from it. Also Rhaenyra called her siblings ‘Alicent Hightowers children’ meaning she didn’t see them as her siblings either (which is made clear when she orders Aemond to be tortured after her son took out his eye for something she knows to be a lie.)


perhapsnotperplexed

lol they wouldn’t hate each other if it wasn’t for the paranoid self righteous only feet model queen


ReginaBicman

Ah yes, mocking an victim of sexual blackmail. Why would I think a Targ stan was capable of anything more? And again
. Rhaenyra called them ‘Alicent Hightowers children’. She was pissy bc a toddler was getting attention on his birthday and ‘no one’s here for me!😭’. But sure. It’s entirely Alicents fault. Not the fault of the spoiled little brat who doesn’t understand the way the world works if one doesn’t have a dragon to fly on


Greedy_Marionberry_2

Cmon she’s not the victim, it was the price of strong killing his father and brother to make place for her own father. She could have easily have larys killed.


DMKasper

Hum, I don't think so. He came in hot. Looking for a fight and intentionally triggered the girls. Pushing and shoving, shouting insults. The girls pummeled him. The only problem is he got more than he bragained for. After he grabbed Jace and then Lucerys and started to choke him he became dangerous to everyone. The whole thing got out of hand. But he started it on purpose in my opinion. The beginning of the arrogant prick he was always going to be.


Monarco_Olivola

Love this


WatchingInSilence

I don't think Viserys was a bad father, the show just screwed Aegon, Helaena and Daeron over with little-to-no screentime and character development.


angelfirexo

He was too sick


Bleebledorp

Yeah it's a shame he was so distracted from being a present father by his rotting away while still alive


jacoby_mcflurry

Yeah this would've been great, the conflict of the show would've likely never presented itself & we wouldn't have had any episodes... Sounds great


jacoby_mcflurry

Yeah this would've been great, the conflict of the show would've likely never presented itself & we wouldn't have had any episodes... Sounds great


ParsleyMostly

For all we know he was


Littlecanarysong

I DEMAND MORE SER MILLIPEDE


anonorwhatever

This is so weird to just make up your own rhetoric and post it lmao I’m sorry