u/Otherwise_Star_917

for an AU where he still dies but was married and had already fathered a legitimate child before kicking the bucket

im something of a rhaenyra supporter myself, but its crazy how team black had such an advantage in dragon numbers and ally houses at the beginning of the war, and they still managed to lose the war (and im counting it as a loss since rhaenyra dies by aegon's hand), even if her bloodline is the one that ultimately prevails in the end

and its even more laughable with how shes portrayed as "chosen by the gods" in the show, only to still end up losing everything (that is, if condal and hess actually follow the book ending)

but the reasoning of rhaenyra losing her dragons and allies does make sense and is tragic in the way she is a grief-stricken mother who becomes understandably paranoid after so many betrayals

off the top of my head, i can only think of aerea and dany as the only ones to ever bond with male dragons (and there is also some ambiguity regarding dany's dragons and their genders)