House of the Dragon Theory: All of This Is Viserys’s Fault
Rhaenyra is a terrible leader of Westeros.
She was so sure she deserved to be in power (and to be clear, I believe by the law of the land Rhaenyra is the rightful ruler) but once she made it to the iron throne she had no clue what to do next. I found this shocking. Rhaenyra was named heir when she was 14 or 15-years-old (just 8-years-old in the books). When she rejected Criston Cole around that time, she was crystal clear about her future. She literally said, “I am the crown.”
So why wasn’t Rhaenyra prepared to actually do the work of ruling Westeros?
I blame Viserys.
King Viserys I Targaryen was Rhaenyra’s father. When he failed to produce a son, he named Rhaenyra as his heir. Then, he ended up producing three potential kings in his last marriage to Alicent Hightower: Aegon II, Aemond, and Daeron. Despite this, he maintained on his deathbed that Rhaenyra was his heir and should succeed him as ruler of Westeros.
But he didn’t actually train her to rule. He just named her as successor.
Viserys should have made young Rhaenyra his hand, or even assigned his hand to teach her about politics, leadership, and military strategy. She needed to be formally trained with a sword, if even just for appearances. She needed to be taught the subtleties of holding court, how to get people on your side, how to preside over the small council. Everything Viserys did as king he should have taken Rhaenyra along with him to give her instruction and advice and groom her into a great leader.
Contrast Viserys with a patriarch like Tywin Lannister, who dedicated himself to fathering heirs who were competent. Each of his children were expected to be a savvy player of the game of thrones who would protect and advance the interests of House Lannister. Even Tyrion, who Tywin hates, was given an elite education and groomed to be a political asset.
When it’s hinted that Jamie Lannister had dyslexia and struggled to read as a child, Tywin insisted it was part of his duty to read and study. In the same situation, Viserys probably would have been satisfied to have a son who was a great swordsman. But Tywin wanted Jamie to inherit Casterly Rock and wanted him to be intelligent and educated as well. Ironically, Jaime doesn’t fully appreciate the value of that education until much later in the books. After losing his sword hand, he’s forced to rely on the skills he once considered secondary: diplomacy, judgment, and command. He negotiates surrenders, manages sieges, and resolves disputes through persuasion rather than combat. In a way, he begins to exercise the broader leadership qualities Tywin had tried to instill in him years earlier.
Unlike Viserys, Tywin never considers his daughter to be a legitimate contender for the role of heir. However, he still gives Cersei far more instruction than Viserys gave Rhaenyra! Cersei herself often thinks that her father taught Jaime everything he taught her. In the books, she repeatedly insists that the only difference between them is that Jaime was born male. Although Tywin knew Cersei would be restricted to women’s roles by her gender, he also knows politics matter just as much as armies and expects her to do as much as she can for House Lannister.
Viserys was a loving father, but he failed to prepare Rhaenyra for the realities of ruling and to create a political environment in which she could realistically inherit the throne without a devastating civil war. The Dance of the Dragons occurred because Viserys believed that his commands, his oaths from the realm, and Rhaenyra’s claim would be enough to secure a peaceful succession. He underestimated the need to build institutions, reward loyalty, and ensure that his heir possessed the political strength to defend her claim. The result was a civil war that cost tens of thousands of lives—including those of his brother, children, and grandchildren—devastated Westeros, and brought the dragons, the very foundation of Targaryen power, to the brink of extinction.
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