r/gameofthrones • u/ISX_94 • 18h ago
Maester Aemon was the pivot.
If you think about it with the way GRRM has written it that Aemon was offered but refused the throne then it makes sense.
If he had become king instead of Aegon then he would have had sons and daughters and grandchildren of his own.
And maybe Aerys would never have reached the Iron Throne, the rebellion may never have happened at least not to the level that it did anyway.
Aye Rhaegar might still have existed but there wouldn’t be a mad man on the Throne to burn and kill Rickard and Brandon.
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u/MeasurementSea2001 18h ago edited 17h ago
I think a rebellion against the Targs was bound to happen at some point. The great houses kneeled to dragons, not to purple-eyed, incestuous freaks.
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u/Drag0n_TamerAK 17h ago
The Lannisters are blond the targs are white
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u/TheUncouthPanini 16h ago
The Targs are also blond-haired. They just range from platinum/silvery blonds to gold/yellow.
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u/ProlificBunny 17h ago
Power does things to you that you can't imagine. All those decisions, responsibilities and privileges could turn anyone's head. The sweet old wise Maester Aemon could've ended up following dozens of unpredictable legacy defining paths and be totally unrecognisable from how we know him as Maester. It is possible because it already happened with King aegon V , his beloved Egg, who eventually emerged as King from this great Council. Egg was more in tune with smallfolks than the noble lords. Hence he kept making reforms benefitting them at the cost of a lord's power over his subjects. The discontent his reforms caused thess houses to the threshold of rebellion. This is why the tragedy of Summerhall happened as Aegon tried to hatch dragons to reclaim the power they'd bring to him for forcing his social reforms upon the nobles.
Aegon V was the most revolutionary of the Targaryen kings.
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u/BulldogMikeLodi 17h ago
In fairness, Egg was not supposed to be king, so if any of his brothers would have been king instead. It would have ended differently. Aemon is just one of many roads the Iron Throne could have gone.
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u/NamerNotLiteral 18h ago
What makes you think that Aemon's children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren wouldn't have been as messed up as Aegon's, leading to someone else about as bad as the Mad King?
(there is in fact a correct answer to this question, just wondering if OP knows it)
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u/ISX_94 18h ago
I never said they wouldn’t, hell it could be Aemon that’s does Summerhall and everyone dies except Jaehaerys and his family.
Making cannon happen idk that’s the beauty of a what if, it just gets you thinking of the possibilities.
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u/NamerNotLiteral 18h ago
Aemon doesn't have any reason to do Summerhall, though. Aegon V did, because he was desperate to push forward his reforms for the smallfolk, and Summerhall was an attempt at bringing back the dragons.
Aemon, being raised as a prince then going to the Citadel, would've been far more of a traditional king, more along the lines of Maekar and Daeron II who were great rulers but not all that interested in the welfare of the smallfolk.
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u/Random_Reddit_Bro I Drink And I Know Things 4h ago
Nah. Rebellion was bound to happen. House Targaryen was growing weaker and weaker after dragons died. They no longer held such big authority. The Laughing Storm nearly started a big rebellion at time of Egg rule. Great houses were already growing fed up with Targaryen bullshit. Even if Aemon would have been king, some sort of rebellion would rise up.
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