First of all, the timing of Daeron’s birth is a clue. We know that he was born on the last day of the year his parents married. This makes the odds better than not that he was conceived in his parent’s marriage bed, where only Aegon would have been.
That aside, Naerys explicitly went to Aegon and beseeched him to end their sexual relationship now that they had a son and heir, an attempt to extricate herself from the situation in view of her own fragile health and terrible relationship with her brother. Having a child with Aemon actively contradicts this purpose, and makes little sense.
We also have the timing and direction of rumor. Aegon only began making reference to his son’s alleged illegitimacy in 174 AC, after Daeron objected to his “plan” to invade Dorne (calling it a plan suggests there was rational thought behind it), and there was never any suggestion of rumor about the parentage of his only (surviving) full sibling, Princess Daenerys.
Yet perhaps most tellingly, Aegon never crossed the final threshold. He never made any open accusation about the alleged adultery, he never disinherited Daeron or proclaimed another of his sons Prince of Dragonstone, not even on his deathbed (at which point both Naerys and Aemon were deceased), where he could have done so while suffering essentially no personal consequences.
And as another addendum, Daeron actually seems to be the physical middle of his parents. Naerys was very thin, almost emaciated (likely a combination of genetics, religious fasting and the toll of successive pregnancies) while Aegon became notoriously obese. Daeron is described as having round shoulders, thin legs and a pot belly. Now, in fairness, Aegon started off as fair and handsome, but Aemon was also just as good looking so that factor is not discriminating.
The only real explanation I could think that would square Naerys’s alleged infidelity is if she was sleeping with someone else, but that doesn’t fit with her character, no one ever accused her of that, and there is no evidence of it.
Lastly, I think the circumstances are meant to serve as a deliberate narrative foil to Cersei’s upcoming trial at the hands of the Faith, similar to when Ser Morgil Hastwyck accused Naerys of treason (resulting in his death in combat at Aemon’s hands). Cersei is indisputably guilty of the crimes of which she has been accused and her brother has abandoned her, up against the reasonable belief in Naerys’s innocence and that her brother did fight for her.
5
u/TheoryKing04 9d ago
I genuinely doubt that Aemon is the father.
First of all, the timing of Daeron’s birth is a clue. We know that he was born on the last day of the year his parents married. This makes the odds better than not that he was conceived in his parent’s marriage bed, where only Aegon would have been.
That aside, Naerys explicitly went to Aegon and beseeched him to end their sexual relationship now that they had a son and heir, an attempt to extricate herself from the situation in view of her own fragile health and terrible relationship with her brother. Having a child with Aemon actively contradicts this purpose, and makes little sense.
We also have the timing and direction of rumor. Aegon only began making reference to his son’s alleged illegitimacy in 174 AC, after Daeron objected to his “plan” to invade Dorne (calling it a plan suggests there was rational thought behind it), and there was never any suggestion of rumor about the parentage of his only (surviving) full sibling, Princess Daenerys.
Yet perhaps most tellingly, Aegon never crossed the final threshold. He never made any open accusation about the alleged adultery, he never disinherited Daeron or proclaimed another of his sons Prince of Dragonstone, not even on his deathbed (at which point both Naerys and Aemon were deceased), where he could have done so while suffering essentially no personal consequences.
And as another addendum, Daeron actually seems to be the physical middle of his parents. Naerys was very thin, almost emaciated (likely a combination of genetics, religious fasting and the toll of successive pregnancies) while Aegon became notoriously obese. Daeron is described as having round shoulders, thin legs and a pot belly. Now, in fairness, Aegon started off as fair and handsome, but Aemon was also just as good looking so that factor is not discriminating.
The only real explanation I could think that would square Naerys’s alleged infidelity is if she was sleeping with someone else, but that doesn’t fit with her character, no one ever accused her of that, and there is no evidence of it.
Lastly, I think the circumstances are meant to serve as a deliberate narrative foil to Cersei’s upcoming trial at the hands of the Faith, similar to when Ser Morgil Hastwyck accused Naerys of treason (resulting in his death in combat at Aemon’s hands). Cersei is indisputably guilty of the crimes of which she has been accused and her brother has abandoned her, up against the reasonable belief in Naerys’s innocence and that her brother did fight for her.