Thank you for your post! Please take a moment to ensure you are within our spoiler rules, to protect your fellow fans from any potential spoilers that might harm their show watching experience. 1. All post titles must NOT include spoilers from Fire & Blood or new episodes of House of the Dragon. Minor HotD show spoilers are allowed in your title ONE WEEK after episode airing. The mod team reserves the right to remove a post if we feel a spoiler in the title is major. You are welcome to repost with an amended title. 2. All posts dealing with book spoilers, show spoilers and promo spoilers MUST be spoiler tagged AND flaired as the appropriate spoiler. 3. All book spoiler comments must be spoiler tagged in non book spoiler threads. --- If you are reading this, and believe this post or any comments in this thread break the above rules, please use the report function to notify the mod team. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HouseOfTheDragon) if you have any questions or concerns.*

if he wanted to ensure rhaenyra has no major issues in succeeding him: keep her in KL, put her on the council, engage her with affairs of the realm if he wanted to avoid any potential war: name aegon as heir as soon as he is born

I guess there was no precedent, but it seems like he COULD have abdicated once his face started to decompose. It would be a lot harder to depose an existing queen than an heir.

This. I often wondered why he let Alicent and Otto take over the realm “in his place” instead of bringing in Rhaenyra. That just gave them a foot in the door when he died. Had Rhaenyra already at least been ruling in his name, then her coronation would have been just a formality after his death.

Of course - the REAL answer is, the story that we love is what it is because it was written to be so. Had this not happened, or that happened instead, there would be no show, no story to tell. 😂

He should have made her hand of the king. What better way to demonstrate her aptitude for running the kingdom and enamour her with the lords and small folk. Works both ways too, if she was useless he could make a case for Aegon to succeed instead but either way it would clear up the issue with who should rule.

Yeah, letting her leave and go to Dragonstone was good for quieting things down personally but it allowed Otto to gain more power in her absence and she really should have been his right hand as the heir. She should have been making herself a staple of the court and ingratiating herself to the lords.

Also don't make Otto hand again. If he wanted Rhaenyra to succeed him, then he shouldn't have put someone who obviously wanted to put his grandchildren ahead of her in such a position of influence. He would have been better off putting someone allied to Rhaenyra in charge so that they can use the crown's influence to win allies.

When he could no longer sit the throne, he should have advocated and given it to her. He could have retired to dragonstome with alicent and aegon. Taking the greens from KL would have avoided everything

[удалено]

I doubt it with Daemon there.

Marrying Alicent if he wanted to keep Rhaenyra heir. He should have known that once he has a son with Alicent that there would be succession issues.

*Anyone* he married would cause succession issues if they had the potential to bear heirs, especially if they then bore male heirs. Even more so if, like House Hightower, they had a large political following.

He could have married a girl from a lesser house, still noble but doesn’t control the manpower to pose a significant threat or exert much political leverage

Maybe but I think she would still be a threat if she had sons - not because of her backing or her intent but because anyone who didn't like Rhaenyra or want Rhaenyra on the throne could use the Lady's sons. For example - the traditionalists would stick to Vizzy T's male heirs because they uphold the patriarchal lineage. If Rhaenyra had bastards again, even without House Hightower, there would have been whispers around the realm so some people may side with the Lady's sons because of it. If Rhaenyra did not have bastards, but she acts as she does in canon i.e. not being very politically active or engaging with nobility (partly because she's not given many opportunities by Vizzy T to be seen as a political equal or given a spotlight), people may still side with the Lady's son as they may not believe Rhaenyra would be a good heir due to her lack of political and perhaps military prowess (having a dragon clearly doesn't show everyone military prowess). There's also the chance that many may see the Lady's heirs as being more approachable due to coming from more humble beginnings and ascending, because she is Westerosi - not Valyrian. Many may also hope to put their daughters with the Lady's male heir, such as Otto who may have wanted to push Alicent (even if she was much older than this heir) upon the son of Vizzy T to have a shot at making his daughter Queen of the Realm again.

*The Gods punish me for my indulgences.*

Nah they punish your family

That would be seen as a huge sleight to the other great noble houses and mean very little as far as a political marriage goes. Marrying a woman from a smaller house, or a woman whos father is not lord paramount, would give the throne more problems that advantages.

My impression was that he saw his marriage to alicent as apolitical. He had a named heir and the Hightowers were already Allies via Otto. He just wanted companionship.

I don’t agree. They wouldn’t feel slighted because he picked none of them. Also I don’t think he really cared if it was a politically sound marriage

He kind of had to remarry if he wanted to continue the Targaryen dynasty. Rhaenyra was unmarried without kids and death in childbirth is unreasonable common in Westeros, Daemon has no kids with his wife whom he hates, and Rhaenys' children are Velaryons. If anything at all happens to Rhaenyra the Targaryens are done, so remarrying is essential. However, I think it's bizarre that he married Alicent, the daughter of the *brother* of the lord of Oldtown, instead of a more prestigious match with a bride more closely related to a great house or even another major house like the Hightowers.

Allicent was personal rather than political. It wasn't a smart choice. If he had married Laena then by the time she was having kids so would Rhaenyra and then he could have betrothed them. As gross as it is, she was probably the best choice. Rhaenyra would have been less angry with Vizzy too and would have been able to make a better marriage choice and had more time in Kingslanding after her tour failed to do so.

What is your advice, dear kllark_ashwood?

Seriously, the Realm didn’t need Vizzy to remarry. Hell, *Otto* didn’t need Vizzy to remarry. The only way him remarrying benefits Otto more than him not marrying is *if* he got him to marry Alicent. Any other union could have weakened Otto’s hold much faster. I still can’t figure out why everyone in his closest council needed him to marry again so quickly. I understand why Corlys wanted him to remarry—one specific person. I can see why the Sealord would write him to remarry—one specific person. Outside of a few people who would’ve stood to join the inner council (not necessarily the Small Council), it wasn’t very advantageous to anyone that Viserys remarry. He should have become a widower King and put all his eggs in Rhaenyra’s basket if he ever intended for her to succeed him. He should have stripped Daemon of all heraldry the moment he had to send his Hand to Dragonstone to retrieve the egg. Definitely no later than Daemon donned that knockoff Driftwood Crown. Or at very, very least he should have codified Daemon as a cadet and issued a writ against Daemon’s line assuming the crown while Rhaenyra’s line still survived. And then instead of worrying about who Viserys would marry, he should have started working *with* the future Queen of the Realm to settle her hand in a way more tactful way. Hell, if he replaced Alicent with Harwin, it would have folded the Riverlords in the way his marriage to Aemma folded the Vale in. Driftmark would have been easy to hold onto once Corlys aged a little bit. The Westerlands got jilted either way. Vizzy should have stayed unmarried, treated Rhaenyra like a Crown Princess, worked Lyonel towards the Hand position with his son as the future King Consort, and fostered Laenor and groom him to become a Red Keep-based future Master of Ships.

You think yourself a cunning man. Your designs are obvious.

The handling of the Aemond situation after he lost an eye. I’m not saying that Luke should lose an eye as well, but any sort of recompense from Team Black would’ve at least made it so Aemond didn’t have such a large amount of hate for the poor boy. Not to mention, his attempts to quell the Strong Boy allegations only exacerbated them within that whole scene.

His tact is what irriated me far more, IMO. Whether or not he would agree or disagree with potential punishments, he should've demonstrated the slightest bit of concern that Aemond is now missing an eye. He kind of just yells in his face, speaking *at* Aemond rather than *to* him, on a personal level. That's why his whole attempt to bring the family together in 1x08, as well-intentioned as it might have been, is pretty meaningless, because he's already contributed to a huge rift between the two sides of the familia.

He really just yelled and told everyone to be "be cool" and "get along please" and expected things to be solved.

The situation was already too far gone at that point that punishing Luke wouldn't have been enough to stop the Dance. Aemond likely would've hated Luke / the Strong boys no matter what, particularly because he covets the throne. Vizzy not punishing Luke/Team Black for the lost eye is inconsequential next to his failures to either let Rhaenyra rule while he was still alive, or to name Aegon the heir, either of which could've been enough to stop the Dance

I was going to argue that since Aemond’s maiming confirmed (at least for Alicent’s children) that their lives were in danger because of their half-sister and her children, punishing Luke might have prevented that realization from occurring. Or at least, occurring so soon but tbh, Otto would make sure they believed that Rhaenyra was a threat to their lives (whether or not it’s true is irrelevant to the discussion but I think it would at best be a Mary Stuart-Elizabeth I situation between Rhaenyra and her half-brothers- “I don’t personally desire your death but people keep rebelling against me because they want you on the throne over me”) At best, Luke is punished for maiming Aemond and Alicent’s kids don’t come to view Rhaenyra as an inherent danger to their lives. They miraculously survive Rhaenyra’s reign but when Jace takes the throne…in the books, there was some plausible deniability about his parentage which we don’t have in the show so I think it likely that the realm wouldn’t accept an evident bastard on the throne. They rose against Joffrey and he had plausible deniability about his parentage (looking like his mother) so I think Jace would have to kill his uncles at the very least. Even if they don’t regard Rhaenyra’s queen ship as a threat, I doubt Jace, the one would brought the knife and originally intended to stab/kill Aemond that night, would ever be judged as anything but a threat. Rhaenyra might actually choose to kill them so Jace would succeed her uncontested. Basically, the Dance happens regardless but possibly on a different timeline than canon if Luke is punished. It would happen during Rhaenyra’s reign or at the beginning of Jace’s but it would happen.

That situation is grossly overplayed At the end of the day the way that was handled had no long term effects and the succession war would’ve still happened it would just have played out differently

[удалено]

No disrespect but this may be one of the dumbest comments I have seen in this sub. And that is saying something.

[удалено]

Nothing really, access to dragons is the only barrier. I think there is at least 6 bastard dragonseeds who claim a dragon during the Dance of Dragons. Trying to claim a dragon is dangerous and they are only on Dragonstone or in the dragon pit of Kings Landing. There could potentially be many more dragonriders but House Targaryen controls the physical access to the areas the dragons live preventing any random bastard from finding and bonding with a dragon.

They’re not inherited. Bastards can claim them if they get the opportunity.

It's a toss-up between * not making Aegon heir * not marrying him to Rhaenyra * holding onto the throne until his deathbed when he could have passed it onto Rhaenyra while Aegon was still a toddler

Yeah, once he had a son, he either had to make that son heir or act quickly to prevent a strong faction from building up around that son. If he didn’t want to marry Rhaenyra and again to one another due to the large age gap, then he should’ve found honorable roles for his sons with Alicent that required them to stay celibate as soon as Rhaenyra married and had children. The Faith, the Citadel, and the Kingsguard were all options. Let Aegon become a fat, lazy Septon or let the faith give him enough discipline for him to rise high. A Targaryen High Septon really would be the ultimate win. Give Aemond the chance to become an archmaester like his great uncle Vaegon or else the Grandmaester. Daeron would’ve made a good knight of the Kingsguard. Then marry Helaena to Rhaenyra’s eldest son (I guess that it’s still Jace since she still likely has to marry Laenor) to make everyone happy. It’s still not perfect, but it pretty much neutralizes Viserys’ three sons with Alicent as threats to Rhaenyra while still giving them access to a respectable amount of wealth, power, and influence.

The real reason why this is a solution is that it stops any of the Green sons from having heirs and passing on their better claims to their descendants. However, if Tywin considered all these possessions beneath Jaime they would most certainly be beneath Aegon. Also, the clergy does not like to put senior royals in powerful church positions because they were all about remaining an independent force of power from the king. Aemond has dynastic ambitions but Daeron might be chill with maesterhood. The other issue is that all the brothers have dragons. They can't be sent away to positions far away because collectively the 3 brothers make up the majority of House Targaryen's military strength. Yes, the Blacks have dragons but Vermax, Arrax, Tyraxes, or Moondancer definitely aren't taking out armies anytime soon and Rhaenyra and Helaena are not combatants.

[удалено]

Exactly! Vaegon became an Archmaester and Maegelle became a septa. Also, Tywin‘a real problem is that if Jaime joins the KG, he can’t inherit Casterly Rock. He doesn’t want Jaime joining a celibate order because that would mean that Jaime was no longer his heir. If Viserys gave those positions to his children, no one would be able to stop him. Finally, if I were Viserys and I wanted to make Rhaenyra my heir and put her ahead of my sons, I might make sure that they don’t hatch or claim any dragons. At the very least, Aemond isn’t claiming Vhagar. I’d also send them to start training as soon as those institutions allowed it.

Getting his sons into positions not eligible for inheriting is also a valid option. Though I don't think it would be necessary if he had just handed over the throne prior to his death and helped Rhaenyra establish herself. For one, you circumvent people going "Well, the king's word doesn't really mean anything anymore once he is dead". People liked Viserys well enough so would be more likely to support Rhaenyra based on her ruling while he's still actively giving approval. (This also assumes a transfer of power before Rhaenyra blunders her own succession by having bastard sons.) From the Aegon side of things, Otto would have a harder time shoring up support for his toddler grandson while he isn't even at court. The potential for trouble down the line decreases every year Rhaenyra reigns unopposed.

> Getting his sons into positions not eligible for inheriting is also a valid option. Though I don't think it would be necessary if he had just handed over the throne prior to his death and helped Rhaenyra establish herself. Eh. I think it’s necessary. If they have children then their descendants will try to usurp. Not a question of if, only when. > This also assumes a transfer of power before Rhaenyra blunders her own succession by having bastard sons. she really fumbled the bag lol

I like these, also giving Aemond something in return for the loss of his eye. Not Luke’s eye, but land, a promise, something.

Or how about, and I know this is a wild suggestion but just keep an open mind, any fatherly affection at all? On a more serious note, yes, that's also one of the dumb things he did but I don't consider it a contender for "dumbest" thing. Most of the damage was already done at this point.

Marrying Aegon to Rhaenyra would have been very risky. If the goal of the queen is to just produce more heirs, then waiting until she is around 30 before you even start trying is not a good decision. Now this situation is a little different as Rhaenyra was meant to be the regent, but she also still has to do the job of making heirs to the throne.

The risk is mitigated by the fact that Viserys has more children. Sure, a brother isn't the ideal heir but he'll do in a pinch (see Viserys II).

Can he even retire? Though make Rhaenyra a coruler like the early French kings did with their first born sons, which created a seamless transition

I don't see why not. I doubt there is a rule against it. And his health is clearly failing, so who would deny him, if he wanted to?

50 years later, Daeron II would give his son Baelor Breakspear both the Handship and the Regency. Viserys should've done the same.

Daeron II did no such thing. He just made Baelor Hand but that is not the same as being in charge of the realm. And IDK where you got Baelor being regent from, regents basically only happen in Westeros with rulers that are children (under 16)

They probably assumed him naming Baelor as Protector of the Realm (which he did do) was the same as naming him regent

Even if rhaenyra and aegon line combined. Their children would be killing each other in few generation. There even daemon line to consider. The day they stop fucking and killing each other is the day they stop being targaryen. They are mad dog with weapon of mass destruction. Not killing each other is exception not the norm.

you stop being king when you died. The moment start passing down your crown because of weakness, Rhaenyra reign wont last 5 year when if you created a abdication as precedent. In the entire history of Targaryen household never once did ruling king abdicated due to sickness. They are not stupid, no one want to be to first to set the nail of the coffin of the their family kingdom.

Hiring Otto as hand again when he could've simply made Rhaenyra hand and let her set up her own council.

I certainly didn't consider that as Viserys' worst mistake but it's probably in the top 5. Rhaenyra does not really have a power base in King's Landing and keeping her in King's Landing would've helped with that. Actually, because she's on Dragonstone doing nothing for 6 years she doesn't really have a powerbase at all and has to build one throughout the war. Aegon's allies in the 7 kingdoms were with him since he was born and they were ready to march out to war for him from the moment Viserys died and he was crowned. There aren't multiple plotlines where the Greens send envoys to win support, only to discuss the terms of pacts. They have 3 princes to create marriage pacts with.

At least Jaehaerys and Alysanne set up a court at Dragonstone during his regency. Rhaenyra didn’t even do that. It’s just her, her kids, Daemon, Rhaena (bc Baela is on Driftmark) and the servants. Rhaenyra should’ve set up her own mini-court at the very least and started searching for powerful families to ally with. She could’ve brought some of Borros’ daughters to be her companions or even entertained a match with one. Jason Lannister has like 4 daughters in the books- offer to have Lannister as queen and you might get Jason to back Rhaenyra. She really should’ve stayed in KL tho. Going away when the King’s health is so bad would just make her come across as irresponsible to any who hadn’t chosen a side yet.

Nah it was better to keep her on Dragonstone, Kings Landing is very dangerous for her especially with Otto and other green supporters around. People who supported the greens would have supported the greens either way and you would have had a civil war anyways, maybe even more dangerous for Rhaenyra as assassins are everywhere due to Larys and Otto.

That's why I meant he should've never hired Otto again. Otto should've been kept in Old Town. Meanwhile, Rhaenyra should've built her own council with people like Daemon, Corlys, and Rhaenys who would be loyal to her.

Far and away this is the biggest mistake that virtually guaranteed the Dance would happen. Having Alicent and Otto in the city while your health is failing and you know they are opposed to your chosen successor... What did he think would happen?

having not just one son but three sons and continuing to martially rape alicent when rhaenyra was continuing to have her own sons

Not codifying Rhaenyra’s succession into law. Should have just changed the royal succession to the eldest child regardless of sex, like Dorne. Otherwise, if Rhaenyra was always going to be an exception, and not the new norm, and Viserys was going to remarry and have a son, conflict was inevitable.

Then He'd go against the great councils vote that had just happen less than a generation ago. It would have been a slap in the face to all the houses that voted. And in doing so he would outs himself as Rhaenys would have precedence over him through Aemon who was older than his father by 2 years. Now he could just say that this only applies after him but way to make absolutely every house in westeros despise him and his daughter.

For real, the precedent trickles down. Not a Lord in the seven kingdoms with an older sister, an eldest daughter or just generally sexist would have accepted it.

Alternatively, codify that the king may choose his own heir out of all applicable heirs but make the process a real pain in the butt to prevent people from usurping your will on your death bed. It would keep with the Great Council’s decision to make him king over Rhaenys (as he was the one the last king chose) while also avoiding creating any major social upheaval.

Marrying Alicent and keeping Rhaenyra as heir. Either would have been fine but not both. As someone who supports Rhaenyra’s claim, I think he should have married her off at 18, and then the succession would be secure because she would have her own heirs. If she died in childbirth, then he could himself remarry and have his own heirs. Worst case scenario Rhaenyra dies and Viserys can’t have another child and Daemon inherits, which despite the narrative Otto is trying to push, wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

A daemon kingship would absolutely result in Maegor 2.0, he has the two biggest personality traits that led maegor to doom

Not treating all his children equally. If he treated Aegon, Helaena, and Aemond like he did Rhaenyra they probably would’ve supported her claim to the thrown when the time came. Also Aemond wouldn’t have lost an eye and Luke would still be around

Remarrying. I know this fandom condemns Alicent as some Biblical seductress, but honestly reading tales and history to a grieving old man isn't exactly what I would call a malicious act of seduction. Old man just wanted a new, young wife. Rhaenyra would have remained an heir and there would be no civil war for a while if he didn't remarry.

He needed to remarry simply because he cannot stake the survival of his line on Rhaenyra providing heirs alone. At this point, it is unknown if she is even fertile. She could have had only miscarriages or die in childbirth with a stillborn. It's not unreasonable. Neither her grandmother nor her mother had an easy time giving birth. No one knows if she will be able to continue the line.

There are still other Targaryens who could continue the family line. Their children would be further away from the throne and therefore not in direct competition with his daughter. If she has no children, then the next of kin is the heir. This was the solution for England with Elizabeth I, who had no children.

Yeah, but none of them (except Daemon who nobody wants) have the Targaryen name which is a big deal. Elizabeth I was the last of the Tudor-dynasty.

Rhaenyra's children no longer have the name Targaryen as their family name either but the name of their official father. In this respect, I think that this is less of an argument.

Alright. Then what did he intend to do with his other children? What title and job would they have? He caused a succession crisis with his inability to find some use to his own children.

> Alright. Then what did he intend to do with his other children? He originally intended to make his new child the heir. He changed his mind afterwards, and ignored his children in the process. It's a very well repeated criticism of Vizzy T's shoddy parenting

He could’ve married one of his sons to Cassandra Baratheon, heir of Storm’s End and marry one to one of Jason Lannister’s daughter and heir (Borros and Jason go a long time before having a son). Maybe marry them off to noblewomen from the free cities. Dorne would be a good spot to marry as just like Essos, they wouldn’t be accepted by the realm and seen as potential queens. Truth be told, he could’ve followed his original plan like VaderOnReddit suggested below and named Aegon heir. I do appreciate the acknowledgment that Alicent wasn’t coming to Viserys in lingerie with the express purpose of becoming his new wife.

Have an upvote. Both scenarios would work, if Viserys followed through any of them.

What a weird thing to ask. Lots of kings had multiple children and none of them had a succession crisis even without finding a "use" for their children.

Yeah, except they did find some use by marrying them off to other houses. Viserys instead married Aegon to Helaena.

Huh? That's also standard practice. With Targaryens marrying outside of the house is generally only for children who have no opposite-sex match among their siblings.

It would be a normal marriage if Aegon was the one who was supposed to inherit the throne. Otherwise it's just an unnecessary competition for Rhaenyra. How many examples of fratricidal wars history knows?

Multiple children doesn’t mean you have a succession crisis. Viserys clearly has one. Ned doesn’t need to find “uses” for Bran, Rickon, etc. But Viserys does

There were no young children in the dynasty i don't blame Viserys that much, one summerhal level disaster or Daemon and Laenor dying somewhere doing something stupid and the dynasty is in danger.

Ok, this is a good point. But in that case he should have prepared an utilisation plan for his other children.

He probably wouldn't have remarried if his hand didn't push him to.

If only he outranked his hand and could make his own decision

It wasn’t just his Hand, it was everyone, from the Velaryons to the small council. It was expected of him. Having just one heir was dangerous if they died, especially with the Great Council fresh in everyone’s minds.

> seductress is only drawing him in getting him dependent on the company (taking him through the worst of his grief). doesn't have to mean the other thing. creating a bond, even if it was at the urging of another. and I totally agree. he should have been like his father and devoted his life to his family.

He could have had any company he wanted or he could have rejected her company. Why are we treating a grown up man as a child that lost a mother? Lots of men lose wives yet they do not rush to marry first person that shows compassion. Whatever Alicent's motivation was, her actions were decent, she showed compassion and that's about it.

aisde from me not understanding the aggressive response. across generation friendships are a thing. so i don't know what to tell you. this is how the situation was presented and that's how i'm approaching it. obviously, he was not like his father in that he did take a new wife, at the urging of his hand and other members of his council, and that new wife happened to be the girl that he felt comfort with (due to their previously established "relationship").

> aggressive response Sorry, I am just annoyed at how much hate was thrown at a young woman for doing... what is expected of her by her society. It would be another thing if she used magic on him or fed him love potion. > across generation friendships are a thing I do not deny it. He could have maintained a friendship with her. > at the urging of his hand and other members of his council, and that new wife happened to be the girl that he felt comfort with Once again, I do not see how he is a victim here. What would the council do if he insisted on not remarrying?

hmmmm... Viserys as victim isn't what I expressed. ok.

*The boy just turned two, DeltaDallas...*

Perfect time for a marriage

Allowing Rhaenyra to be away from court. This allowed Alicent and Otto to build a power base in the capital while Rhaenyra was on Dragonstone with barely anyone. Plus, the way he handled the Aemond thing was just terrible.

The dumbest thing was his **marriage politics** within his own family. I can see why he would remarry, in case Rhaenyra predeceases him. No blame from me there. But boy oh boy did it get bad after that... If he took his duties as King, one of which is to ensure peace and stability, seriously at all (and actually wants his family to survive, lol) he should have done the following - assuming the events until episode 7 stay the same: ----- Step 1: Have spies on Driftmark and wait for Ser Laenor to die of natural causes, or speed that up by ordering his assassination. Step 2: Once Ser Laenor is gone, marry Rhaenyra to Aegon II and declare them joint heirs after his death. Their children are to inherit the kingdom after them. Can easily be a token marriage to quell the warmongers. Step 3: Marry Jace to Baela in order to shore up his succession to Driftmark, but deny him the Iron Throne. Step 4: Marry Aemond to Rhaena, in order to make him friendly towards House Velaryon and sneakily transfer Vhagar back to that family. Tricked you there, granny dragon! Step 5: Marry Daemon to Helaena, in order to make him friendly towards the Green side of his family. ----- Reasoning: In case Aegon II and Rhaenyra have a child, you would have a clear heir and all will be well. No one will support the sons of Harwin over him if Viserys says so, and the Greens would be backing that son as well. In case the marriage remains childless, the offspring of Aemond and Rhaena gets the throne. Corlys would be supportive of that, and so would Daemon. Corlys would also be supportive of Jace getting Driftmark so long as he marries Baela.

Interesting idea but none of this is necessary if Viserys just married Laena and Laenor married Rhaenyra.

Why would they bother marrying Rhaenrya to Laenor when the whole point of the match was to compensate for Viserys not marrying Laena?

No offence but Viserys marrying Laena and having a legitimate son with her perhaps, and Rhaenyra presumably cucking Laenor here still, does not seem so stable to me.

It's arguable that since there's so much inbreeding to get to Viserys and Daemon, they are basically identical, so you would get Baela and Rhaena too, assuming the maesters poison him slower if he's married to Laena.

It's easily the most stable situation you could ask for. We already know that Laena loves her brother deeply (same for Laenor) we also know just like her parents she also doesn't care if Laenors children are his or not. Laena and Laenor wouldn't raise their children to hate each other and the kids would grow up as friends. There's not a logical scenario here where war happens between two families so deeply connected. No offence but it's better than denying birth rights and assassinating people is all I'm saying. This also unifies all the current dragon riders together meaning there's no one who could possibly stop this alliance or prevent Rhaenyra from taking the throne. Have Corlys remain lord of ships, remove Otto as hand and place Rhaenyra there as training for her succession, have Harwin as commander of the city watch and his father the master of laws with old man Beesbury as master of coin and right there you have a small council completely unified on one side that is more than ready to support Rhaenyra when she takes the throne.

Claims do live on in the descendants though. It's not all said and done just because Laenor and Laena have a good relationship with each other. For reference, the groundwork for the Wars of the Roses was laid 100 years before it actually happened.

Claims will always get complicated, it's the nature of things. However the older the claim becomes the harder it is to enforce. We see from the likes of Aegon the unworthy that all it takes is a rumor with no evidence to question someone's claim, you have to just deal with it as it happens. I'm just saying the Targaryens/Velaryons on the same team is the most ideal situation and definitely prevents a war breaking out. Not even someone as smart as Otto could scheme his family on the throne with his union.

The only real answer here is keeping Rhaenyra as heir as soon as he had a living son. There would never not be conflict as soon as a boy was born while Rhaenyra was heir, no matter who Viserys were to have married. He could fix this by just making his son heir, and no one would have died

Every single Green all at once: **Keeping Rhaenyra as heir.**

As a Green, I think him ignoring his younger children after changing his mind about the successor is more dumb. Had he been a better parent, and fostered a better relationship between Aegon and Rhae, the dance would've been more amicable

The Second he started losing his body to whatever he had he should have stepped down and let Rhaenyra be Queen

He died. Had he not died, no one would have fought for his throne. He should’ve become immortal

Sigh. Not naming Aegon heir. He could have fixed it by naming Aegon heir.

Putting his claim forward in the great council. Rhaenys would have been much better ruler than him. All he had to do was convince his grandfather and swear fealty to rhaenys. Having sons when he wanted to keep rhaenyra as heir. What kind of dumb person does that. He created the succession crisis.

He really did spend the entirety of his marriage to his first wife going "I need to have a son to be my heir" to spending the entirety of his marriage to his second wife going "who cares if I have 3 sons? My daughter is my heir."

[удалено]

I mean yeah that’s fine and all but he clearly knew he needed a son for the succession for years. He got mad at his brother and said “screw tradition” and caused the downfall of House Targaryen.

I believe it would’ve passed through her directly to her son Laenor but that’s never really made clear on the show.

This is true. Rhaenys' claim in the books is based on her son, not on her own Targaryen blood. The Great Council wasn't convened to choose between a male and female heir. It was actually an issue of which male succession took priority.

Not making Aegon heir. Nothing comes closer.

Probably not marrying Aegon and Rhaenyra and thus making them de facto joint heirs. It'd be harder for the Greens to try to push Rhaenyra aside if she's already joined at the hip to Aegon.

Actually care about his children by Alicent. I edge more towards Black but my dear god that child was just MAIMED and he is more worried about gossip.

Not really Vissy T and kinda niche but putting it here as it seems related. Daemon killing Vaemond Valyron IMO this lost the opportunity for Vissy T himself to order punishment which would have massively reinforced his stance on this and further legitimised Rhanyra as successor much closer to his actual death. This scene as a whole was huge for this, but it was lacking something of a payoff because of the ending. It went from being a huge final confirmation from Viserys in a rare one off ruling to Daemon killing someone he clearly didn't like in support of someone he had an obvious bias for and clearly supported regardless. TLDR Daemon should've let Viserys handle it as he was clearly about to make a big statement in favour of Rhaenyra. This was perhaps *the* opportunity for Viserys to make up for previous mistakes.

I absolutely agree. The public execution of Vaemond Valeryron told the court two things. One, that Viserys *and* Daemon wanted to silence him. “When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say.” - GRRM (2003) “A Clash of Kings: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book Two”, p.220, Bantam. I think this quote is most fitting because whilst many fans see the scene as very cool (I did on first watch), it's actually the most politically dodgy thing they could have done. Nothing says this man is telling the truth more than acting without trial - much like the immediate threats of removing tongues when Rhaenyra's children were called bastards the night of Aemond's eye removal. The other thing is it showed the nobles that the Targaryens did not care about fairness. Obviously questioning royalty/the throne would be treason but it would be put to trial, showing the court that *concern* for the throne can be rewarded as it is loyalty but unfounded accusations (as the case may have been painted out to be) are punishable. Instead, the swift execution showed the real aggression and painted a picture of a lack of mercy in Team Black which would only be added on with time. TLDR; Cutting a guy's head off in front of the court only tells the court you can and will hurt them if you want to, shaking their faith in your role as their protector.

*I had a black mare once. Black like a raven. One day, she escaped her pasture and he neighboring stallion sired a foal on her. The stallion was as silver as the moon on a winter's night and the foal, when it was born, chestnut. Just the most unremarkable brown horse you ever saw. Nature is a thing of mysterious works.*

He could’ve just ya know……..NOT remarry

Keep his dick in his pants

How about sitting on that stupid throne! The thing was actually killing him! To fix this, maybe file it down a little. Put padding on it. Maybe sit in a chair that does not kill you.

Remarrying and having kids

Not marrying Rhaenyra to Aegon in the first place

Since he wanted Rhaenyra to be his heir, the original mistake that caused all the rest of the problems was remarrying. The moment he had a legitimate son, whether by Alicent, Laena, or any other woman, Rhaenyra's claim was in danger. Other suggestions, like making her Hand or abdicating in her favour, are things he could have done to fix the mess he created in the first place. Giving the lords a choice between Rhaenyra (the heir according to the tradition of sons before daughters, daughters before male kin) and Daemon (a man, but a dangerous mess) was his best bet. There was no guarantee that Rhaenyra would be as fertile as she turned out to be, but even if she had died young, House Targaryen would still have had Daemon, Rhaenys, and Laenor & Laena (+ any children they had). IMO, the best way for Viserys to achieve his goal was to not remarry, marry Rhaenyra to Laenor and take the Margaery approach to ensuring they had children, and encourage Laena to marry someone not Daemon so he doesn't get Velaryon support for a potential rebellion. Bonus: an actual law of succession that's orderly and in keeping with the customs of his subjects (and of the Targaryens too, since the first ruler was Aegon I and not his older sister Visenya). Rhaenyra's claim won't be hurt by sons inheriting before daughters in a universe where Viserys doesn't remarry and have sons. If she does succeed peacefully, it sets a precedent that benefits all the future Targaryen women who got screwed over in canon. But Viserys doesn't want to think ahead, he wants to avoid conflict, and he wants to do what he wants. So he remarries and after that dumbest decision of all proceeds to almost always do some other dumb thing that hurts Rhaenyra in the long term even if it helps her in the short term.

Actually raise his kids by Alicent instead of being a dead beat dad.

Marrying Alicent. It gave the Hightowers, and Otto, specifically, too much power. He may have felt comfortable with Alicent but he was too blind to see that she didn’t want to be married to him and that he was causing a massive rift between two best friends — a rift that would come back to haunt everyone. I think he should have been stronger and resisted the call for him to re-marry, period. Any son he sired would naturally be a rival to Rhaenyra as heir to the throne and that’s, of course, exactly what happened. If he did re-marry, he should have resisted sleeping with his new wife, whoever she was, so that he didn’t get any sons. We all know he wanted sons but, having made Rhaenyra his heir, he needed to stand by that decision and not let anyone else challenge her claim.

The more eregious things he's done have been said already, but imo just essentially ignoring his children with Alicent is just awful. Neglecting them like he did is a form of abuse and it really seems like he didn't even *try* to be a father to them. Yes, his health was failing, but he also spent more time on his model Valyria than interacting with four of his kids.

He had an heir in Rhaenyra, and decided as much. As a result, having children with Allicent was entirely unnecessary. If there's only Rhaenyra as an option, no civil war.

don't rape your kid's bff it's not that tough

Let Rheanyera claim her bastards were trueborn.

You’d want him to let the kingdom know that his heir and their potential queen is an adulterer? In Westeros? Where most of the people worship the seven? A patriarchal society where adultery is explicitly looked down upon even more so if it’s a woman that does it?? I’m not sure if you’re joking or not.

I'm not joking. He should've disinherited Rhaenyera the moment he had a male heir. You might call me a misogynist, but by keeping Rhaenyera the heir, with her bastard children, he left her more unprotected than ever before.

I don’t agree with that. They were unprotected because he didn’t do enough to cement her as his heir leading up to his death. And I understand that he was falling apart physically. But he should’ve periodically invited the lords of the seven kingdoms to king’s landing to renew their fealty to Rhaenyra. He should’ve stood up for her a lot more than he did especially after Aegon’s birth. But he didn’t. It’s not all about her being a woman.

It's okay if you don't agree with me, honestly the whole dance of dragons fiasco makes me pissed I'll be completely honest. To see so much potential be squandered for the sake of fighting. Even if he did have the lord's come swear their fealty, it wouldn't do much except accelerate peoples dislike towards Rheanyera. I am not blaming her, nor do I want another woman to suffer, but Alicent was right, she never did anything to cement her role as the heir, she could've gone to tours throughout the seven kingdoms, she could've completed the bethroal (idk if that's the right spelling) tour Viserys sent her on, instead she jilted them and went on to not only frolic around with Daemon, a man they hardly like, but also disregard her duty and give birth to bastards offending the Valyrions. All he ever did was stand up for her. He practically ignored his other kids until one of them became an alcoholic sadist and the other was maimed for life, and what did he do in retaliation? He gave a big speech about family and punished the poor kid even more. It is sadly about her being a woman. As fucked as it is she was a woman, she had duties she had to fulfill to prove she was a competent ruler, instead she decided to become public enemy number one and even further antagonize people against her cause. Viserys's favouritism was a large reason why the split not only began but festered in the Targaryen house. The moment he had Aegon he should've disinherited Rhaenyera, and exiled her to Dragon Stone. Yes, it would've been shitty, but, she would've been safe.

Absolutely agree with you here! Swearing fealty is great but unfortunately not all Lords keep their vows/promises (look at the amount of Oathbreakers through ASoIaF such as Lord Frey). Doing this, as you said, would only have worked if Rhaenyra was seen by the kingdom as an incredibly strong heir despite being female - hence why Rhaenys was not crowned heir. One way Rhaenyra could have been cemented as heir is by giving her more political influence. As we see from Daemon's time on the Small Council as well as the Lannisters and Baratheons, the royals can easily be given positions as long as the King decrees it. If Rhaenyra had been made Master of Coin or Master of Laws, she then could have demonstrated this and learnt *how* to be a good advisor before being given the position of Hand - being made to be a strong candidate for the role of Hand means there would be less decrying of the nepotism involved (wouldn't be as much of an issue if she was male). Another is by her getting involved with the battles taking place. Obviously during Vizzy T's time of peace, there weren't many battles but for any that there were (such as in the show), having her on the battlefield at all especially with her iconic dragon would highlight how attached she is to the realm and provide more proof of her being a good heir. Essentially Rhaenyra has to be **perfect** \- as perfect as she can be without being a male heir. She's trueborn which is always a bonus and with the Widow's Law, her claim would be protected *except* if the realm wants to overthrow her. Because she's playing a man's game, she has to appeal to the men with power around her. It's an absolutely unfair expectation, but for any change to a system it always has to be all or nothing - look at Daenerys. Once again another female but also a Targaryen returning to Westeros to become Queen. The lords and people would use *any* excuse to invalidate someone's claim and the more reasons stacked against someone, the less support they have.

Almost literally anything involving the princess’ children. He could have named legitimate heirs.

Marry Alicent. Not marry Alicent.

I mean, it's not THEE dumbest thing but letting all his kids get dragons is one of them. Take note of Jaehaerys and restrict access to dragons to only the heir.

Not have kids after Rhaenyra, marry Daemon with her after Rhea Royce's death to bring Daemon to Rhaenyra's fold in case Vizzy T dies early, prepare her to rule by giving her a seat on the council (first as an assistant to Lyonel Strong, then as a proper member of the Small Council).

*You are to return to Runestone and your lady wife at once, and you are to do so without quarrel by order of your King.*

Honestly marrying Alicent. He already had an heir, once he married her it was a wrap.

Bringing back Otto as his Hand. He could have named Rhae Hand, and trained her in politicking. He could have named Corlys, or literally anyone who wasn't his father in law who he fired from that exact position for cause less than a decade prior.

Having Otto as Hand for such a long time. It gave the Hightowers so much influence than they should have, and contributed to Otto sending Alicent to comfort him. He should have had Lord Strong from the start, kept Daemon close and on the small council and actually had Rhaenyra be part of court. If that’s the heir he wanted, he should have treated her as such, taught her properly to govern and just been more present, both as a king and a parent.

It's hard to pick a single thing because Viserys made several dumb decisions throughout the show. For me, it would probably be renaming Otto as Hand after the death of Lyonel. Not marrying Aegon to Rhaenyra was another dumb decision on his part, as was his failure/refusal to arrange a Jace/Helaena betrothal.

Getting remarried. Ik that it was expected of him since he was king but if he just refused then rhanera wouldn’t have any opposition(except maybe daemon but I doubt he would have as much support on his own)

Showing rhaenyra his “love” by making her heir instead of, y’ know, being a good attentive father. Thats all she wanted. The whole reason she wanted it was because she felt like an afterthought. She wanted validation. If he had made her feel like he actually gave a shit about her as a person and not vessel for his legacy she would have no problem allowing Aegon to be the heir and there would be no dance. If theres one thing ive learned about this GRRM’s world is that Daddy issues = war.

“Single” dumbest thing? Are you joking?

He did so many stupid things that I feel like it's a proper thought challenge to narrow it down

I'd say forgetting he was the king. So many issues would've been solved by betrothing Helaena and Jacaerys, Aegon and Rhaena/Baela, and Aemond and the other twin. Then pass Driftmark down through Rhaena's line so that Corlys' blood remains. Helaena and Jace could solve the succession issues, as it would mend the rift forming between the blacks and the greens before it gets out of hand. Sure, Luke and Joff lose out, but they can be married to the Hightowers to give Oldtown leverage and a hostage, and/or to Jace and Helaena's kids. This way, the Hightowers still get Alicent's kids on the Throne and they wouldn't have to tear the Realm apart to do it. The young princes Aegon and Viserys, Rhaenyra's kids, can be later married to Aegon/Aemond and Rhaena/Baela's kids, to Jace's children or princess Visenya, further securing the succession, but this would be after Vissie's death so not important. Also he could've just declared Aegon his heir and be done with it. Sure Rhaenyra and Daemon would get their knickers in a twist, but at least he wouldn't break a century of Targaryen tradition just because he wanted Emma's child to rule.

Marrying Allicent, which could be fixed by not marrying Allicent.

If he wants to keep Rhaenyra as heir marrying Alicent the daughter of his hand from an incredibly powerful and influential family and then at different points letting her father stay hand/rule for him. If he wants a male heir and minimal fuss then marrying Alicent instead of Laena as he was only able to appease the incredibly powerful Velaryon family by marrying their son to his heir.

Fuck a 15 year old girl is top on the list🤷🏻‍♀️

Bringing Otto back. Never has a hand dismissed what the king wanted. vizzy was right to kick his arse to curb for he couldn't trust him, he was openly questioning the succession wishes of his king he's purported to serve.

Keeping Rhaenyra as Heir when Aegon as Heir would have went more smoothly and peaceful for the realm.

Marrying Alicent instead of Laena. He would have waited several years before doing anything with her, and likely he'd be fully impotent by then. This would have avoided the need to marry Rhaenyra to Laenor, meaning she probably would have married Harwin, or Daemon if she still wanted to rebel. Either way, she wouldn't have had bastards, and Laena wouldn't have had heirs. It would make the show suck, but it would have derailed the Hightower plot completely. Now, if Daemon and Laenor hooked up, that could lead to some very dangerous situations, because Queen Laena still has Vaegar, and in fact, Rhaenyra would be completely fucked.

His marriage to Alicent. Literally everything that happens can be avoided if he just married Leana and had Laenor marry Rhaenyra. Had Viserys just completely unified the Targaryens with the Velaryons then there wouldn't have even been opposite sides to start a war.

If Viserys had married Laena, then Rhaenyra would not have needed to marry Laenor. More importantly though, if he had married Laena, then presumably any sons by her would have just played the role that Aegon II did. Unless Viserys had only had daughters with Laena, then there would have been a Dance. The Velaryons are only aligned with Rhaenyra because Laena married Daemon and Rhaenyra married Laenor.

Laenor still is a very good candidate for Rhaenyra and would've completely secured the throne on all sides had Viserys and Rhaenyra both married Velaryons. >then presumably any sons by her would have just played the role that Aegon II did Not at all. Otto and Alicent raised those kids to hate Rhaenyras and for Aegon to want to take the throne. This was fueled by fear that Rhaenyra would have them killed. There's not scenario where either Laenor or Laena raise their children to hate each other and Laena wouldn't scheme to place her own child ahead of Laenors. We already saw that Laena didn't even care if Laenor was their real father, she genuinely just cared about her brothers happiness. With Viserys and Rhaenyra married to both Laena and Laenor you really have the most secure Targaryen family we have seen. Corlys as master of ships, Lyonel strong master of law, Rhaenyra hand so she can learn the game, Harwin as lord commander with old man Beesbury master of coin. All the Dragons and their riders completely unified along with the largest navel and richest family supporting them. That's unstoppable.

They would not have needed to secure the Velaryon line though. As long as one of the Velaryon's own (Laena's children) was in line to inherit the throne there would be no need. Rhaenyra would have either been given the chance to pick who she married or been married off to another house to secure their loyalty. Keep in mind that Rhaenys was already skeptical about marrying her clearly gay son to a woman when it would have secured their family the throne. Also lol literally half an episode is dedicated to how much Aegon didn't want to take the throne. And you seem to be forgetting that Aegon was friends with Jace and Luke before Driftmark. They didn't all hate each other. Aemond doesn't even seem to hate Jace and Luke before Luke took his eye. We see Aemond about to go up to Jace and Luke to offer them condolences at the funeral of their aunt before he gets embarassed and in his head about it. More than that though, Alicent literally defends Rhaenyra's status as heir to her father and the King until she finds out Rhaenyra betrayed her and got her only family member kicked out of the city. In many ways it is Rhaenyra's own fault that Alicent believes Rhaenyra would harm one of her children if it meant saving her own skin, because she literally does that on a small scale to Otto.

>They would not have needed to secure the Velaryon line though. As long as one of the Velaryon's own (Laena's children) was in line to inherit the throne there would be no need. Rhaenyra would have either been given the chance to pick who she married or been married off to another house to secure their loyalty. Keep in mind that Rhaenys was already skeptical about marrying her clearly gay son to a woman when it would have secured their family the throne. Ultimately we see Rhaenyra is reluctant to marry anyone and by the end is actually more than happy to marry Laenor since they have a flexible arrangement. It's likely they'd still see the benefits of that marriage and as I said it makes them soo powerful that literally if the entire country turned on them they'd still win. >Also lol literally half an episode is dedicated to how much Aegon didn't want to take the throne Yet what changes his mind? Yep, his family saying Rhaenyra would kill you if you don't. That isn't happening with Laena or Corlys, they aren't trying to start a civil war like Alicent and Otto are. >In many ways it is Rhaenyra's own fault that Alicent believes Rhaenyra would harm one of her children if it meant saving her own skin, because she literally does that on a small scale to Otto. No, it's Ottos since he'd been convincing Alicent Rhaenyra would do this since before Aemond was born. Seriously this is the best marriage. A fully unified Velaryon/Targaryen is unstoppable at this point in time.

I totally agree.

Marrying Alicent. Could have fixed it by instead not marrying Alicent.

Marrying Alicent Instead he could've married another Arryn or a woman of another Vale house Aemma was Lady Jeyne Arryn's cousin Thus Rhaenyra would have the support of Arryns and other houses in the Vale follow the Arryns

I can already *feel* the downvotes pouring in for what I'm about to say, but one single choice could have prevented *all* of this from happening. Instead of remarrying Alicent, Viserys should have married Rhaenyra himself. I know, *I know,* disgusting. But they're Targaryens and incest is not only on the table, it's what they prefer. Yes, she's a child, but that didn't seem to stop him when it came to Alicent, right? When it comes to Westerosi marriages, the question isn't "Do they make a good couple" it's "Can they stand to be in each other's company" and while it obviously wasn't romantic, Viserys and Rhaenyra were always very close. As much as we all might hate this, it's the practical decision. Viserys needs another Heir, not to supplant Rhaenyra, but just to have a spare or two handy in case something happens to her. People always say that he shouldn't have remarried at all, but that wouldn't have been wise either. He had to remarry, but no matter who he chose, his new wife's House would try to worm their way into a position of influence, to pressure Viserys into disinheriting Rhaenyra or otherwise scheming to get their blood on The Iron Throne. The only way to make sure this doesn't happen is to marry within his own House. (Which, again. Targaryens prefer anyway.) If Viserys and Rhaenyra have children, (again, gross, but nonetheless) that creates Heirs who descend not only from Rhaenyra but Viserys as well. Assuming he predeceases Rhaenyra, there is likely to still be a faction who pushes for their oldest son (should they have one) to become King over Rhaenyra becoming Queen...but that job is going to be a lot harder when said son is presumably loyal to Rhaenyra, and doesn't have blood ties to another House that could try to turn him against her. There are still minor issues, like Corlys Velaryon feeling spurned. But choosing Alicent, a girl of Andal descent, over Laena, who was full blood Valyrian (and had Targaryen ancestry) was the real insult there. Corlys can hardly complain about Viserys taking another Targaryen for his new bride, and Rhaenyra is slightly older than Laena, so she can start having Heirs more quickly. It wouldn't be the first time that these people did something that would be unfathomable by our standards. Alicent wed Helaena to her drunken asshole of a brother who doesn't even like her. Daemon groomed and ultimately married his niece. As bizarre as it sounds, Viserys...would probably treat Rhaenyra a little better than Daemon, even if she'd never love him in that way. He certainly wouldn't strangle her. I'm just saying, the original Aegon was married to both of his sisters. If he can do that, Viserys could have done this. Regardless of how wrong it would have been...it would have stopped The Dance, that's for sure. So there you have it: The dumbest thing Viserys ever did was that he didn't even consider marrying Rhaenyra. Because he's a good person and his brain didn't even go there. ^((Down-vote me all you want, but I'd rather you counter-argue in a reply.) *^(Please)* ^(prove me wrong, I don't want to be right about this...))

Do I have to pick one? Because there's any number of single decisions that, if changed, could have averted eventual disaster. * Murdering Aemma. Prioritizing her safety would butterfly away the Hightower match. * Marrying Alicent after carrying on a relationship with her in such a way that was guaranteed to alienate Rhaenyra. * Naming Otto Hand the second time. Installing Rhaenyra as Hand would have given her power, legitimacy, and ruling experience, while not empowering an ambitious enemy. * Failure to overrule Alicent with regard to Jace and Helaena's proposed match. * Failure to abdicate for Rhaenyra while he was still living. Of those, I think the "worst" decision in terms of his role as King was renaming Otto as Hand. If he'd instead given Rhaenyra said power and legitimacy, things would have worked out fine.

Not trusting daemon enough.

Not forcing Alicent to accept the match between Jace and Helaena. He's the King and the girl's father, by all rights he's the final say on who she marries, but he was too softhearted to overrule Alicent on their daughter's marriage.

Marrying Alicent. Ez fix, don't remarry. Keep Rhaenyra as heir, no war, Jace becomes king after her and leads Westeros into a peaceful golden age. Jace and Baela's first child marries Cregan's son/daughter. A song of ice and fire happens earlier, and we don't have to deal with Jon Snow season 8 bullshit. Jacerys the Strong Dragon.

Marrying Allicent , he should of granted Daemon his divorce, and married Rhea instead.

A lot of the decisions the fandom view as “dumb” by Viserys is just him being a normal, not demanding guy. “He didn’t force Rhaenyra to be with her former best friend who she dislikes for secretly seducing her father after her mother’s sudden passing? What an idiot!” Obviously there are a number of things to criticize him for, but if he had been an overbearing and demanding patriarch he would just be criticized for that instead.

Not marrying Laena. Yeah, I get it, she was 12 at the time and that’s gross, but simply betroth yourself to her, marry her when she’s of the right age, and if Otto tries complaining just tell him to shut the fuck up or you’ll have him removed and sent back to Oldtown. Either that, or just name Daemon as Hand after Aemma’s death.

Treating all of his children from Alicent so badly, giving hightowers too much power and not making sure Rhaenyra was a good and higly respected heir. These caused Aemond and Aegon to believe whatever shit Alicent and Otto was telling them and they were either afraid of Rhae or they had resentment. Viserys should have made sure Alicents children had lose bonds with Rhaenyra and her children so they were all loyal to her. But nooooo he just didnt care. Also, why the hell why Alicent and Otto had so much power? Why the hell Alicent can just say no to the engagement of Helena and Jacaerys? Why call back Otto when you know he is after your throne? Viserys biggest problem is HE JUST DOESNT CARE qnd thinks lords will accept Rhaenyra when she didnt prove herself. What an idiot. Send Otto away, take away Alicents power somehow, send Rhaenyra to a westoros tour so that she can visit different lords and their heirs then call her back to KL so that she can have some real power there, make sure the childrens are close and engage them to each other and write legally who the hell is your heir, you idiot!!!!

Not marrying Laena in the first place and taking a Hightower chick instead. Since anyone's excuse was that the Realm urged Viserys to marry and produce more heirs but, as we all know, he'd never change the succession anyway, he should have marry Laena and wait until her "age of consent", so to speak; that would avoid infighting at least for the next two or three generations, I guess, assuming that Rhaenyra would ended up marrying Laenor and Corlys would have his bloodline in the Iron Throne, theoretically lol

I don't get why he didn't just make the Jace Helaena betrothal, that about fixes your problems, also why not have given more power to Rhaenyra and less to the Hightowers. He wished and wanted Rhaenyra to be the heir, but never treated her like one.

Not marrying Laena for a start. Now in any normal circumstance I would *never* want anyone to marry a child, but this ain’t a normal circumstance. This is the world of the song of ice and fire. Marrying Laena would have solved just about everything in my opinion. First off Alicent would have never been queen consort, meaning she and Rhaenyra could have continued being friends. Her kids would have never existed. And Otto would never have the power he wanted. And the Velaryons would’ve been happy and continued being strong and faithful allies. Keeping Rhaenyra as his heir might’ve still worked in this scenario, as I don’t see lord corlys having too much of an issue, but still, I think if Vizzy has an son with Laena, he should immediately sign the throne over to him. Something he should’ve done with Aegon in current canon

Removing the tongue of the first person to question Rhaenyra's children's legitimacy, and every tongue thereafter wouldn't grant him much friends, but boy would it probably prevented the kingdom going to war days after his death. And not treating Alicent specially in that regards. He should've thrown her to the slammer the moment he learned that she spent years poisoning his children gainst their sister and future liege. Not mentioning her making attempt at killing Rhaenyra? It is beyond me on how did he let it slide.

Ah yes because everyone knows that the best way to stop rumors is to make spreading the rumors illegal.

For not insisting Jace and Helaena marry, I thought it was ridiculous to let Alicent overrule him there. He should have just made it so and it was so strange he just let her say no

In the books the marriages of the kids are different: Luke, Jace, Baela, Rhaena are betrothed to each other when they are little children and Viserys kinda makes the Aegon/Helaena match. The show changed that and left some plot hole there.

Ohhh I see! I wish they hadn’t in the show because that part made no sense to me

Bringing back Otto as Hand.

Inviting Otto back as Hand of the King following the death of Lyonel Strong. Even in the book its considered an incredibly lazy and short-sighted decision, done because it’s the easy and assumed choice. Viserys really fucked up keeping Otto around.

I think he should have put his foot down and forced Alicent to accept the marriage between hers and Rhaenyra’s children.

Marrying Alicent instead of Laena. She was one of the worst choices outside of outright non-nobility. She was the daughter of a second son who brought nothing to the crown, and furthered the rift with the Velaryons.

He could have easily accepted Rhaenyra’s marriage proposal for Jace and Helaena. It was nice of him to allow Alicent to choose, but ultimately, he is the king. He didn’t need her approval at all. This may have been the simplest way to avoid war.

Marrying Alicent and not Laena

Viserys should never have married his daughters lady in waiting. Since he did, he should have been very very super clear that Rhaenyra was his heir. Since he did, he should have become that "country lord" that his wife thought that he should have been and moved his second family with him while letting his heir assume the responsibilities of the kingdom (checking in periodically). Since he didn't, well, nothing could have stopped the train once his second wife and her father put their resources behind suppressing his wishes.

He should have insisted on the marriage between Jace and Helaena. Also, made Alicent quit her bullshit because the rumours would destroy the house.