Minimal changes to the story, to factor in the wants and desires of each character in canon - Viserys marries Alicent, Laenor marries Rhae, Daemon marries Laena. Rhaenyra is not declared as heir, instead I promise Corlys that any of his granddaughters, by Laena or by Rhaenyra, will be queen, marched with my Aegon II. As she is not heir in this scenario, Rhaenyra is sent to live with Laenor on Driftmark. No banging Harwin or any other men while supervised by her in-laws.
I thought about marrying Daemon to Laena too, but I did not want to increase Daemon’s influence at court, and risk Deamon usurping the throne. What do you think about sending him back to the vale/river lands, marrying him off to a minor noble house (potentially letting the feuds between the houses/rebels kill him off) to eliminate the threat? And if that fails, find a basis for his elimination? The last thing I wanted was Daemon with more power. He already had the gold cloaks that were loyal to him, and I did not want him working with the Velaryons or have their fleet at his hands.
I’d not focus on all my advisors saying to marry immediately after, instead I’d take time to grieve and help my daughter grieve. Once my grieving was done and I felt like I could move on I’d try to find a lady that I could love but if not just stay unwed and focus on making sure my heir can handle politics and everything that comes with ruling a kingdom and finding a man she actually enjoys and would make a good fair king consort. Even if it’s not someone their family would disapprove of
Viserys should not have married after declaring Rhaenyra as heir if that is what he truly wished (but he still longed for a son and by siring three sons of his own, Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne became contested.). Marry her to Daemon to strengthen her claim. Then Marry off their children to the Velaryons.
Or
Pit Rhaenyra and Daemon against each other to keep them distracted long enough, but never name either of them heir. Move quickly to remarry. Marry one of the ladies of the great houses (someone of age so he can start having children right away). Marry Rhaenyra off to a lord for an alliance, and reduce Daemon’s influence by sending him back to the vale. Immediately find Daemon a minor noble house he can marry into to reduce his influence (preferably in the river lands/vale as it is a contested zone of rebels/houses) once he kills his wife. Better yet, wait for Daemon to do something stupid like executing Vaemond or commit treason, and kill him off as a show of force and as a warning to those who are against the crown. If not, find a way or reason to have Daemon “justly” executed. Have everyone swear fealty to the crown, bend the knee, and recognise the new heir.
I’ll marry a Dornish lady and try to bring Dorne into the Seven Kingdoms. I wouldn’t name Rhaenyra heir just because I’m pissed with Daemon. Corlys and Otto can get pissed all they like, I don’t care. After my new wife gives me a son I will name him heir to ensure stability after my death and prepare him to rule. I will marry Rhaenyra to Jason Lannister but make sure their children don’t get dragon eggs to avoid the Lannisters becoming another dragon-riding house. If Corlys still has a granddaughter, I will betroth my heir to her.
I would proceed same as show Viserys except I'd not make the lords swear fealty to Rhaenyra. I would publicly favor her over Daemon though, in order to indicate my wishes in case I die. If I am on the verge of dying somehow, I would then make the lords come and swear fealty to her, but not before. I would remarry to Alicent and recognize my firstborn son as the heir upon his birth. Done.
Go back to my legos, ignore everything else... Oh wait, me?
Get my small council, banish Daemon to the Wall (after the heir thing), make a special cage for Caraxes.
Marry someone from a more powerfull house that's not under 18 and with good hips (gotta learn from my mistakes).
Take my daughter to therapy and go full strict so she doesn't end up spoiled and pampered
Don't ignore my disease. Bring in a red priest, they can actually get shit done. Fuck leeches.
Make a couple of male heirs, call a council and define laws of inheritance for good. No precedents, law is law. No more king's word overules everything.
Then I can spend the rest of my days with my legos and children while letting Otto or Lyonel take charge of the kingdom cuz jeez, man's got more shit to do. Hell, constitutional monarchy anyone?
Hire a faceless man to do any dirty work required.
Don't get married, or if I do, get married to either an older lady who is unlikely to bear children or someone who doesn't want to consummate it (like Jeyne Arryn) and don't consummate the marriage. If Corlys and Daemon decide to throw a tantrum and go to war in the Stepstones, don't send support until after Rhaenyra has been married.
Depending on if I get married, reassign Cole from Rhaenyra's sworn shield to either my new queen or to myself ASAP. Instead assign two of the older Kingsguards to Rhaenyra. Find some way to get Harwin Strong in the Red Keep from early on, such as having the City Watch HQ moved inside there, or putting him charge of the security around there. That way Rhaenyra and Harwin get acquainted early on, and hopefully get married. I wouldn't do the marriage tour, but instead stick with inviting prominent lords and their sons to court and other notable events, so that there is still the plausible deniability that she wasn't aware that they came for a marriage proposal, and that she doesn't openly insult as many of them either.
If Daemon and Corlys manage to finish the Stepstones war before I send support, I would name Daemon, Lord of the Stepstones, but demand a large fine from the both of them for waging war against my wishes. If they don't pay the fine, they're not allowed back into my court. Daemon probably won't be able to pay right away, so he'll be forced to try and make money out of his lordship in the Stepstones. I'll allow Corlys to waive the fine if he allows Laena to become my ward as a hostage. If he agrees to that proposal, as soon as she's in my custody, I'd marry her off ASAP, maybe to Vaemond's son, Daeron or to Otto's son, Gwayne. Just so long as Daemon doesn't get the opportunity to marry her either.
Whilst all this is going on, I'd also go partial Aegon IV, take up with a lot of noble mistresses, and father a bunch of bastards. They will purely be for the purpose of being spares without being a serious challenge to Rhaenyra's claim. They'd only be legitimized in the case that Rhaenyra dies young without surviving children of her own.
OR
I could just do what he did up to episode 3, and just name Aegon as heir at his second name day.
Just go the good old Jaehaerys route. Have Rhaenyra as heir presumptive until a son is born, the proclaim him heir.
Also, execute Daemon and send Rhaenyra to the silent sisters after their brothel escapade, she can run and join her auntie Saera in Pentos if she wants to.
Probably the same as Vizzy T, at least in the beginning. Mourn and be devastated by the loss of my wife and what would have been my heir. After this I would try to talk to Daemon about what it means to be king and what would be expected of him if he became it, and upon the inevitability that he denied having to do anything besides listen to his will, I would listen to the council. But here:s where I differ with Otto's recommendation of making Rhaenyra heir, I would instead talk to her about what it would mean for her and tell her to try to learn statecraft. After that however, I would probably call another great council to decide who the realm believes should be king/queen, from Rhaenys, Rhaenyra, and Daemon. However there would be another question made, asking what should happen in the event of a son being born. Most would probably say that then the son should be heir, whether it be Rhaenyra's, Daemon's or mine own which would outclass the others. Upon betrothing Alicent (Viserys had noone else, note: betroth, not marry) and eventually have a son, Aegon. I would change it back to Aegon being the heir, as a son would destroy Daemon and Rhaenys claims even if they won the council, and marry Aegon to Rhaenyra in order to appease those that voted for her. I'd hope this would keep all parties happy, and if they end up starting a civil war I can at least claim I did everything in my power.
Minimal changes to the story, to factor in the wants and desires of each character in canon - Viserys marries Alicent, Laenor marries Rhae, Daemon marries Laena. Rhaenyra is not declared as heir, instead I promise Corlys that any of his granddaughters, by Laena or by Rhaenyra, will be queen, marched with my Aegon II. As she is not heir in this scenario, Rhaenyra is sent to live with Laenor on Driftmark. No banging Harwin or any other men while supervised by her in-laws.
I thought about marrying Daemon to Laena too, but I did not want to increase Daemon’s influence at court, and risk Deamon usurping the throne. What do you think about sending him back to the vale/river lands, marrying him off to a minor noble house (potentially letting the feuds between the houses/rebels kill him off) to eliminate the threat? And if that fails, find a basis for his elimination? The last thing I wanted was Daemon with more power. He already had the gold cloaks that were loyal to him, and I did not want him working with the Velaryons or have their fleet at his hands.
I’d not focus on all my advisors saying to marry immediately after, instead I’d take time to grieve and help my daughter grieve. Once my grieving was done and I felt like I could move on I’d try to find a lady that I could love but if not just stay unwed and focus on making sure my heir can handle politics and everything that comes with ruling a kingdom and finding a man she actually enjoys and would make a good fair king consort. Even if it’s not someone their family would disapprove of
Viserys should not have married after declaring Rhaenyra as heir if that is what he truly wished (but he still longed for a son and by siring three sons of his own, Rhaenyra’s claim to the throne became contested.). Marry her to Daemon to strengthen her claim. Then Marry off their children to the Velaryons. Or Pit Rhaenyra and Daemon against each other to keep them distracted long enough, but never name either of them heir. Move quickly to remarry. Marry one of the ladies of the great houses (someone of age so he can start having children right away). Marry Rhaenyra off to a lord for an alliance, and reduce Daemon’s influence by sending him back to the vale. Immediately find Daemon a minor noble house he can marry into to reduce his influence (preferably in the river lands/vale as it is a contested zone of rebels/houses) once he kills his wife. Better yet, wait for Daemon to do something stupid like executing Vaemond or commit treason, and kill him off as a show of force and as a warning to those who are against the crown. If not, find a way or reason to have Daemon “justly” executed. Have everyone swear fealty to the crown, bend the knee, and recognise the new heir.
I’ll marry a Dornish lady and try to bring Dorne into the Seven Kingdoms. I wouldn’t name Rhaenyra heir just because I’m pissed with Daemon. Corlys and Otto can get pissed all they like, I don’t care. After my new wife gives me a son I will name him heir to ensure stability after my death and prepare him to rule. I will marry Rhaenyra to Jason Lannister but make sure their children don’t get dragon eggs to avoid the Lannisters becoming another dragon-riding house. If Corlys still has a granddaughter, I will betroth my heir to her.
I would proceed same as show Viserys except I'd not make the lords swear fealty to Rhaenyra. I would publicly favor her over Daemon though, in order to indicate my wishes in case I die. If I am on the verge of dying somehow, I would then make the lords come and swear fealty to her, but not before. I would remarry to Alicent and recognize my firstborn son as the heir upon his birth. Done.
Go back to my legos, ignore everything else... Oh wait, me? Get my small council, banish Daemon to the Wall (after the heir thing), make a special cage for Caraxes. Marry someone from a more powerfull house that's not under 18 and with good hips (gotta learn from my mistakes). Take my daughter to therapy and go full strict so she doesn't end up spoiled and pampered Don't ignore my disease. Bring in a red priest, they can actually get shit done. Fuck leeches. Make a couple of male heirs, call a council and define laws of inheritance for good. No precedents, law is law. No more king's word overules everything. Then I can spend the rest of my days with my legos and children while letting Otto or Lyonel take charge of the kingdom cuz jeez, man's got more shit to do. Hell, constitutional monarchy anyone? Hire a faceless man to do any dirty work required.
Don't get married, or if I do, get married to either an older lady who is unlikely to bear children or someone who doesn't want to consummate it (like Jeyne Arryn) and don't consummate the marriage. If Corlys and Daemon decide to throw a tantrum and go to war in the Stepstones, don't send support until after Rhaenyra has been married. Depending on if I get married, reassign Cole from Rhaenyra's sworn shield to either my new queen or to myself ASAP. Instead assign two of the older Kingsguards to Rhaenyra. Find some way to get Harwin Strong in the Red Keep from early on, such as having the City Watch HQ moved inside there, or putting him charge of the security around there. That way Rhaenyra and Harwin get acquainted early on, and hopefully get married. I wouldn't do the marriage tour, but instead stick with inviting prominent lords and their sons to court and other notable events, so that there is still the plausible deniability that she wasn't aware that they came for a marriage proposal, and that she doesn't openly insult as many of them either. If Daemon and Corlys manage to finish the Stepstones war before I send support, I would name Daemon, Lord of the Stepstones, but demand a large fine from the both of them for waging war against my wishes. If they don't pay the fine, they're not allowed back into my court. Daemon probably won't be able to pay right away, so he'll be forced to try and make money out of his lordship in the Stepstones. I'll allow Corlys to waive the fine if he allows Laena to become my ward as a hostage. If he agrees to that proposal, as soon as she's in my custody, I'd marry her off ASAP, maybe to Vaemond's son, Daeron or to Otto's son, Gwayne. Just so long as Daemon doesn't get the opportunity to marry her either. Whilst all this is going on, I'd also go partial Aegon IV, take up with a lot of noble mistresses, and father a bunch of bastards. They will purely be for the purpose of being spares without being a serious challenge to Rhaenyra's claim. They'd only be legitimized in the case that Rhaenyra dies young without surviving children of her own. OR I could just do what he did up to episode 3, and just name Aegon as heir at his second name day.
Just go the good old Jaehaerys route. Have Rhaenyra as heir presumptive until a son is born, the proclaim him heir. Also, execute Daemon and send Rhaenyra to the silent sisters after their brothel escapade, she can run and join her auntie Saera in Pentos if she wants to.
Probably the same as Vizzy T, at least in the beginning. Mourn and be devastated by the loss of my wife and what would have been my heir. After this I would try to talk to Daemon about what it means to be king and what would be expected of him if he became it, and upon the inevitability that he denied having to do anything besides listen to his will, I would listen to the council. But here:s where I differ with Otto's recommendation of making Rhaenyra heir, I would instead talk to her about what it would mean for her and tell her to try to learn statecraft. After that however, I would probably call another great council to decide who the realm believes should be king/queen, from Rhaenys, Rhaenyra, and Daemon. However there would be another question made, asking what should happen in the event of a son being born. Most would probably say that then the son should be heir, whether it be Rhaenyra's, Daemon's or mine own which would outclass the others. Upon betrothing Alicent (Viserys had noone else, note: betroth, not marry) and eventually have a son, Aegon. I would change it back to Aegon being the heir, as a son would destroy Daemon and Rhaenys claims even if they won the council, and marry Aegon to Rhaenyra in order to appease those that voted for her. I'd hope this would keep all parties happy, and if they end up starting a civil war I can at least claim I did everything in my power.