All Dragons Must Fly

Anything is possible, but it’s awfully convenient if what he felt in his heart just so happened to serve a narrative that obfuscated the ugly reality of a violent attempt to overthrow a peaceful government while dog-whistling the old “they’re stealing our women!” canard to anyone who could be motivated by anti-Dornish sentiment. Even if not outright propaganda, the whole thing reminds me a lot of Littlefinger’s fixation on Catelyn. The idea of taking his sister as a second wife would be an unequivocal validation of his Targaryen-ness. So even if there had been some real attachment, the impetus behind it is pretty suspect.

There weren’t rumors because he didn’t live. Daenerys was left alone because she was convenient for the narrative, and possibly because Daemon may have had feelings for her. But one attack on the queen’s fidelity is a bid to delegitimize all of her children.

It’s possible that Aegon IV having another son would have rerouted history away from the Blackfyre Rebellion entirely. I tend to doubt it because his behavior was all about playing people against each other to keep everyone responsive to his whims, but maybe in this alternative universe those whims are different and the fallout takes different shape, who knows.

I’m flinching a little bit at that wording, but unfortunately I think you’re completely right about how she’d be spoken about.

I don’t know how Princess Daenerys felt, but I would also take the Blackfyre interpretation of it with a massive grain of salt. I do think it’s pretty clear what Daemon’s fixation on the idea was, though. Working himself into an incestuous, polygamous marriage to someone who unquestionably belonged at court would be an exponentially stronger demonstration of his Targ-ness than even having Blackfyre. In a way it’s an emulation of his namesake, right, when Daemon Targaryen pushed that relationship with the crown princess Rhaenyra even while he was married to someone else.

Compare to Littlefinger’s feelings about Catelyn, right: he may or may not have sentimentalized that attraction, but it was in large part an attraction to increasing his own status.