Fanfic / My Father's Son

Lyanna: Gods, I wasn't at all prepared to be Rhaegar's Princess.
Elia: Please, I wasn't prepared when I arrived in King's Landing. With Rhaegar at my side, I learned quickly and you are as well.

It is a time of unease in the realm. Westeros is barely holding together under the rule of King Aerys II. His son, Rhaegar, is helping to rule after a rebellion began driving his father to paranoia and madness. Yet Rhaegar's home life, including his suffering mother Rhealla and his stiff marriage with Elia Martell still haunts him. However, everything would change when in a fit of paranoia, Aerys would decide to pull a trick to undermine Tywin Lannister: Revoke the decrees of Jaeharys I, and make Rhaegar marry Lyanna Stark as his second wife.

Nobody was happy about this idea in the capitol, but Lyanna had her own issues, with an impending betrothal to Robert Baratheon on the horizon. But with a few chance encounters during the Tournament at Harrenhal, her marriage to the crown prince would bring great change to not only the realm, but to the families she would unite as well.

My Father's Son is a For Want Of A Nail and Alternate Universe Fic by Longclaw_1_6 (An Empire of Ice and Fire) about making a new story out of the "previous generation" of the Game of Thrones series. For in choosing to legally bind their houses, all the houses of Westeros would be reshaped in a new song of ice and fire. It's also the first in a planned series called the Succession Series.

Find it here or here.

Now has a sequel, The Hedge Knight.

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This fic contains examples of the following Tropes.

• Abhorrent Admirer: Robert Baratheon takes this role for Lyanna. And it, unfortunately, doesn't improve over the years she's with Rhaegar.
• Adaptation Amalgamation: In general, this story is more closely associated with the books with way more minor houses than in the show and also uses Asha for Theon's sister. However, there's also the show's family tree for the Targaryan line (no Jaeharys II), and a few incorporated elements from the Game of Thrones video game, with House Forrester introduced.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: Shireen is more beautiful than in canon, due to having Lynesse Hightower as a mother instead of Selyse Florent.
• Adaptational Backstory Change: In this world, Cersei did get pregnant by Jaime in their youth, but Tywin found out about it, and forced her to have moon tea, thus aborting the child (whom the story indicates would've become Joffery).
• Adaptational Comic Relief: Tyrion, starting in his mid-teenage years, is in his "teen denial" stage of japing with his family constantly, and pretending that he doesn't feel a lack of love or respect. Though there are hints that he has a greater, more serious role to take before long.
• Adaptational Context Change:
  • Jon is still born in the midst of battle, only this time it's at the end of a seige rather than in the middle of a rescue mission.
  • The visit to the Tower of Joy on the eve of the end of the rebellion. Here, it's meant as a resting spot for the 2 brides, but it doesn't quite turn out like that.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • Bronn makes his appearance in Rhaegar's Trial by Seven as a sellsword just starting, but by pledging to the combat, gets dragged into the war.
  • We don't get any idea about when Melisandre first came to Westeros, but at the very least, she becomes more politically active earlier in her life.
• Adaptational Heroism:
  • Jaime was starting down the same path as before, until Rhaegar decided to assign him to be Rhaella's regular guard. Getting a glimpse into a part of the royal family that wasn't insane gave someone for Jaime to hold onto to keep his ideals. And so, while Jaime might sometimes play the arrogant, smug knight, he's much more heroic overall in this story.
  • Cersei Lannister in canon rose to be the Alpha Bitch and a political Big Bad Wannabe. But here, with some changes to her life, her past and her circumstances, she begins to grow softer and more sensitive to the world, and with her hubris tempered, begins to take a more circumspect and heroic path as Lady of Winterfell.
  • Aeron Greyjoy was a hard, stern religious leader who supported the Iron Way when Balon began 2 different rebellions. Here though, Aeron got some influence from his father to start rethinking the old way and how they might grow in Quellon's traditions instead.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Since we have so little information on what Elia was like in court during her marriage, we don't have a full picture of what her potential as a queen might've been in the books. Here, thanks to Lyanna helping to improve her health and keep her going in the game, Elia becomes Rhaegar's Rhaenys with a mind for finding out political angles to take and digging up information to double check whatever Varys is saying.
• Adaptational Jerkass:
  • While keeping his core personality with grudges, passion and lust for battle, Robert's obsession with Lyanna is put in a much more harsh light here with her being living and Happily Married on top of it all. The writer noted he saw Robert as a Gaston type figure high on himself and expecting adoration always. Which like Gaston, leads him down some more abrasive (if not totally villainous) paths.
  • Doran always had an affection for his family and an interest in insuring the protection of the smallfolk despite his vengeful desires. Here, with him losing his hands on the wheel of ultimate power, he comes off as more petty and self-aggrandizing for the sake of "Dorne", alienating him from Elia and hurting his relationship with Oberyn.
• Adaptational Name Change:
  • Jon Snow does keep the Jon label as a nickname, but for his Targaryen name, he's called Baelon.
  • In this world, it's not Robert's Rebellion, because Robert ends up fighting for the crown. Instead, it's Rhaegar's Rebellion.
• Adaptational Personality Change: Rhaegar for his part is less concerned with Prophecy here than the practicalities and dangers of what the Realm is going through.
• Adaptational Sexuality: So much of it. From changing asexual people into a new couple, to making Lyanna and Elia bisexual.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • Still being young and learning the Game, Renly Baratheon gets pushed into taking hostile actions against Elia and Lyanna by attacking Starfall.
  • While Jon Connington already was a bit on shaky grounds being devoted to Rhaegar's memory and supporting a foreign invader in the books, here his obsessions, combined with Rhaegar finding real happiness with his wives, eventually drive him to beginning the rebellion on the wrong side.
• Affectionate Nickname: Well, there's house nicknames like Ned, Cersei, Jaime and Rhaella calling their significant others by their sigils. While for Rhaegar and Elia, they sometimes call Lyanna Lya as a shorthand.
• Age-Gap Romance:
  • Despite his own discomfort, the marriage between Garlan Tyrell and Melissa Blackwood (nee Fossoway), isn't horrible. It's a gap of over 17 years, but Melissa takes the lead as the elder partner, and Garlan's own honor helps to sustain it in his own way.
  • Jamie is only eighteen by the start of the story, but he ends up romancing Queen Rhaella, who's a whole generation above him. Given what her husband was like, this was a welcome change for her.
• Age Lift: Garlan and Loras's age gap is a bit larger, with a gap of around 11 years rather than 5.
• Altar Diplomacy: Well this is Westeros after all, so it happens quite a lot.
  • The premise of the fic is built off of this, as Aerys wanted to use a marriage of his son to Lyanna Stark as a way to get the North, Riverlands, and Vale onside to keep Tywin Lannister on his toes. For that matter, Rhaegar's first marriage was also a way to keep Dorne happy with the realm, but the method by which it was done created walls for Elia and Rhaegar.
  • Tywin had ideas to do this back at them by having Cersei marry Robert Baratheon. However, having seen who Robert was at Lyanna's wedding, Cersei refused. Then Tywin found out about her being pregnant, and due to aunt Genna standing up for her, it was called off.
  • Thanks to the needs of rebellion, the joint Tully marriages are carried out with Lysa marrying Elbert Arryn and Catelyn marrying Eddard Stark. The tragedy in Catelyn and Ned's marriage of course was that they had eyes for others when they married, and Hoster was actually okay with the North coming to war without a marriage. There was just a lie from Roose Bolton that tricked Ned into it.
  • After the mess of a Trial by Seven, Rhaegar makes an arrangement with Olenna (who was acting as leader of the reach due to Mace being in King's Landing) to marry Janna Tyrell to Titus Peake as a way to ensure a safe passage through the reach, and ensure the snippy Janna doesn't pull anything after her fiancee was killed after the trial. Olenna also uses this as a way to shore up the family's control due to the deaths of Mace and Willas. That to give the family a boost and to connect to the crown, her grandson Garlan is arranged to Melissa Blackwood/Fossoway.
  • Tywin also uses a bit of this to get back into the Red Keep. That with his kingdom offering all sorts of advantages in a realm that needs some stability and dependability, he arranges for Cersei to marry Ned to indirectly connect him to House Targaeryn.
• Ancestral Weapon: Several crop up. The surprising parts of course is that some of the lost relics from Canon end up showing up, with both Blackfyre and Brightroar being recovered.
• Appeal to Force:
  • There are dimensions to this as a means of activity. One key component is that no ruler is cocky enough to rely on this solely as their right to action. Even Aerys and Balon had to use some politiking and subterfuge in order to carry out their plans. And Rhaegar, despite having a returned right to force with rehatched dragons, doesn't trust that the realm is small or secure enough to rely on this outright for any problematic regions. Even for ones he could use it on like the Iron Islands.
  • Then again, this is part of Lyanna's final push to put Lady Brienne on the Kingsguard despite it breaking some traditional requirements: that no matter what others might say in regards to those closest to him, he still has dragons to say that he can handle those closest to him like that.
• Arranged Marriage: To help stabilize The Reach after Mace Tyrell commits suicide, Olenna arranges for her grandson Garlan to marry Melissa Blackwood, widow of Tanton Fossoway.
• Ascended Extra: When you start from up top with a different point, you end up bringing new key players to the front.
  • Dacey Mormont, a minor book character, becomes Lyanna's lady in waiting, and serves as a character connecting Arthur Dayne to the romance part of the fic.
  • Benjen Stark, youngest Stark whose main claim to fame is bringing Jon Snow to the Wall, becomes a Kingsguard as part of the deal for Lyanna, and remains part of the supporting cast from thereon out.
  • House Dayne all have larger roles in the story, with Arthur, Ashara and the rest of Starfall playing strong supporting roles in the story.
  • Ser Bonifer Hasty, leader of the Holy Hundred. Minor lord of some mockery in the books, First Love of Rhealla and Religious Bruiser of Rheagar's army in this story.
  • Septon Meribald, a minor character in the Riverlands, has a chance meeting with Rhaegar during the rebellion, and as a result gets a royal push to take some political power as a Internal Reformist.
• Awful Wedded Life: Played with. In general, this doesn't always appear as often as it could, but its specter often influences how characters feel preparing for it.
  • Rhaegar and Elia's marriage was okay at first, but not particularly great due to Aerys's racism and the fact that it was only put together by Doran and Aerys for political reasons. Thankfully, bringing Lyanna into the mix actually managed to repair it.
  • Doran for his part doesn't have a great relationship with his wife either. They did produce heirs, but their arguments and Doran's own coolness often has her leaving court for months at a time.
  • Averting this is part of what made things...complicated for house Baratheon. Robert's obsession with Lyanna makes Stannis worry that anyone who weds him will fall into this. Stannis for his part ends up subverting this, as he ended up making a betrothal in a spur of the moment desire, and admitted after the fact that he could've done worse.
  • Melissa Blackwood admitted to herself privately that her first marriage to one of the Fossoways wasn't great. He'd never been a particularly good lord or husband. So in a way her second marriage is a chance to start something better.
  • Like in Canon, Aerys and Rhealla's dysfuctional marriage is on full display. And with Jaime as a front row seat, it's not pleasant, even breaking all ties of hope for sympathy when Rhaella witnesses the burning of Brandon and Rickard.
  • Sadly, Lysa's marriage here to Elbert Arryn isn't much better than one she might've had with John. Elbert is as restless as Robert, and the two aren't often together.
• Berserk Button: Robert rapidly becomes one for Lyanna. The fact of his high position makes any overly harsh action without cause is impossible, but after the problems with their first meetings, ANY kind of positive action towards him sets Lyanna off.
• Big Badass Battle Sequence: While Rhaegar's Rebellion offers several of these sequences as options, the Battle of the Bells has the biggest, most important scope, as by the end of it, 6 of the major kingdoms end up contributing to the fight, several named characters meet an unexpected death, and it ends with a dragon hatching.
• Big Fun: Deconstructed. Robert keeps his over the top personality, but with his lack of seriousness or his ability to think beyond his base desires, it creates many issues for the Stormlands that could've easily been avoided.
• Big Good: Tessarion, Goddess of beauty and knowledge. A healer and believer in all things good in the world, seeking to guide the Dragons into a new era of good through direct and indirect means.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Balon Greyjoy thought himself inspiring and strong when he gathered the Ironborn for his rebellion. However, with the coordination of the Seven Kingdoms, and lacking the sense of other players, Rhaegar comments on defeating him that unlike his father who had greatness in him at one point, Balon was just delusional to think he could actually hold onto his attacking gains.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: Rhaegar is undoubtably a great warrior. His Kingsguard, inherited from Aerys (and more loyal to him for the most part) are also great fighters in their own right.
• Born in the Wrong Century: Septon Meribald is a simple country septon. Illiterate though with a strong understanding of the 7 pointed Star. However, as such a lowly septon preaching and serving among the smallfolk, he has a VERY modern perspective on the purpose and application of faith. That it's not just about dominating heathens, punishing infidels or making powerplays to show how strong they are in the face of secular power, but about serving and directing the people of the world through kindness and service. He wouldn't be out of place when looking at preachers in the ancient or modern times, but in a world like Westeros, he's a kind of radical in wanting to practice coexistence with the other major faiths and the king.
• Bullying a Dragon: If Septa Mordane should have known better than to call Robb a "bastard", then she REALLY should have known better than to also call Baelon a "bastard" and Lyanna a "whore". And yet she does this repeatedly to Sansa's face, and refuses to take these remarks back in front of Ned and Cersei, who respond by kicking her and the rest of the late Catelyn Stark's entourage out of the North. She's lucky that she doesn't get the Ilyn Payne treatment.
• The Chains of Commanding: Thankfully, in contrast to House Baratheon after their rebellion, the ruling family in this fic are quite aware of the exhaustion of being in charge. Rhaegar, Lyanna and Elia are all acutely aware of the exhaustion of ruling. Ned also has some strain.
• The Chessmaster: Well this is the world of Westeros. To play the game of thrones, you have to have a few big picture people. Tywin of course stands out, always looking for the best ways to preserve and increase the family power.
• Childhood Friends: Rhaegar grew up with 2 best friends: Jon Connington and Arthur Dayne. One became the Best Friend. The other...didn't turn out well.
• Childhood Marriage Promise: Maybe. One thing's for certain: Baelon and Daenarys had a spiritual connection from their youngest days. And Dany was already thinking of becoming his queen in a childhood fantasy kind of way.
• Commonality Connection: This is how Brandon Stark and Gerion Lannister end up becoming friends. Both have restless spirits, and chafe at the idea of simply resuming responsibilities without getting to do great things first.
• Cool Uncle: Quite a few uncles are pretty cool in the eyes of the kids.
  • Lewyn Martell is a steadfast defender, but also an uncompromising loyalist to his niece Elia and his great-nephew and great-nieces.
  • Eddard is cool for his steadfastness and calming presence for Rhaenys.
  • Gerion is a ton of fun and willing to push his nephew and nieces to better follow their hearts. And he's pretty good with the sword.
  • Tyrion is mischievous in his treatment of youngsters which makes him the "bad influence" kind of uncle.
• Cooldown Hug: After the stress of the Ironborn raid on King's Landing, Rhaenys finally gets a comfort hug after the stress of needing to defend her family from evil for the first time in her life.
• Composite Character: Melissa Tyrell (Nee Blackwood and Fossoway) is actually a combination of the unnamed Blackwood sister, Leonette Fossoway and a connection to Tanton Fossoway of the red apples. Given the lack of information on all of these people, she's given space for making her own personality to.
• Court Mage: Melisandre ends up taking on this role as Rhaegar's personal spiritual advisor, though she hasn't been called upon for any burnings thankfully.
• Cruel and Unusual Death:
  • As punishment for his dishonorable taking of Harrenhal and leading to the functional extinction of House Whent, Boros Blout gets the Bolton treatment of flaying.
  • Due to his throwing Rhaegar off at his execution, Renly Baratheon gets his heart directly cut into from above.
• Cruel Mercy: Rhaegar was deeply tempted to just kill Balon Greyjoy for orchestrating a rebellion that also threatened his family. But instead he decided to take a more economically brutal approach, along with going even farther than Robert would have, by taking both his remaining children as hostages.
• Dark Secret: Melisandre has a secret she doesn't want anyone to know. Namely, that King's Landing is her original home.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Jon Fossoway is killed off by Bronn due to a cowardly action trying to overturn a lost Trial by Seven.
  • His cousin Tanton also dies here, albeit offscreen, presumably at the Battle of the Bells.
  • The infamous Boros Blout gets captured and FLAYED as punishment for dishonorably taking Harrenhal and bringing forth the funtional end of House Whent.
  • Mace Tyrell commits suicide rather than face up to how he dishonored the Tyrells and lost Wilas during Rhaegar's Rebellion.
  • According to Varys, as part of Aerys II's newfound obsession with dragon eggs, Varys was forced to carry out a hit on Illyrio Morpitas.
  • Wyman Manderly meets his end during Euron's raid when he's currently still alive in the books.
  • Rodrik Harlaw AKA Rodrik the Reader is sadly killed during the navel battle at Arbor.
  • Dustin Drumm also goes down during the Greyjoy Rebellion here, slain by Rhaegar in the retaking of Lannisport.
• Demoted to Extra: While a highly important part of Elia's life in the first half of the story, Ellaria Sand loses prominence after she becomes Oberyn's official paramour. While not entirely out of the picture, since Oberyn has more to do for the politics and fighting, Ellaria just doesn't get as much to do after Rhaegar's Rebellion.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation: A couple examples exist.
  • Jon Arryn still dies from poisoning, but this time it's due to the machinations of Jon Connington and Pycelle.
  • Ethan Glover, one of the men Ned took with him to the Tower of Joy in the original timeline, dies fending off Hightower calvary in the 2nd battle of Harrenhal.
  • One of the Karstark sons dies in the 2nd battle of Harrenhall, taking an arrow in the face.
  • Pycelle is executed for consenting to poisoning Jon Arryn.
  • Renly is executed for attacking Sunspear.
  • Catelyn Stark dies after childbirth due to a Lannister assassin causing her to go into labor by pushing her down a flight of stairs.
  • Lewyn Martell dies defending the Targaeryn children during Euron's raid of the Red Keep.
  • Rodrik Greyjoy is again killed in battle, but instead of Seaguard, it's in combat with Benjen Stark at Lannisport.
  • Likewise, Maron Greyjoy again dies from Pyke's tower collapsing, but this time it's due to dragonfire.
• Disabled in the Adaptation: Lord Quellon Greyjoy suffers from dementia symptoms in the story, which ends up putting the Iron Islands under a secret regency due to Quellon's prickly status as an Internal Reformist.
• Disc-One Final Boss: The trouble under Aerys II is substantial, and his actions long effect the family Targaryen even after his death. However, despite his own power and madness causing much of the plot at first, his death would only be the beginning of winning the peace after the mess he left.
• Dramatic Irony:
  • Despite Tywin's rough parenting and cold view of how to improve the family, all the Lannister children are actually becoming more emotionally healthy and better people thanks to their positive interactions with the Targaryens and Starks.
  • Tywin even falls into a bit of this, in that being a skeptic, it's Melisandre who convinces him to join Rhaegar's army for their final battle with Aerys's forces.
  • In chapter 64, Tyrion remarks to Cersei that for all of Tywin's plotting, he'd never stoop so low to do something as base as an assassination to get what he wants. 8 chapters later, that's exactly what he does to Catelyn Stark.
• Dreaming of Things to Come: Many characters receive dreams/visions of the future.
• Evil Former Friend: Sadly for Rhaegar, Jon Connington falls into this camp. From dear friends who helped keep the realm together to bitter enemies once Rhaegar found out about Jon's attempts to get rid of his wives.
• Flash Sideways: During a dream, Cersei has a vision of Joffery killing Ned Stark from canon. Having her reflect on who she is, and what her family could've become.
• Foil: Ser Bonifer to several males in the story. While some like Robert and Ned get locked onto one woman as "THE one" for them, Bonifer, while clearly still harboring some deep affections for Rhealla, is able to look at their past maturely and move on with his life.
  • Garlan Tyrell and Eddard Stark have remarkably similar life trajectories. 2nd sons who were dutiful and helpful. They ended up playing crucial parts in the rebellion, but because of the tragedies the rebellion created, both had to marry early and become the Lord Paramount when they didn't expect to. The devils are in the details around them. Ned was slightly older than Garlan and got mixed up in the politics earlier. He ended up in an unhappy marriage alone in The North for a few years, but the experiences of everything made him dedicated to taking his time to do things right. Garlan was married underage, but he and his wife found a way to make it work. He also had his younger siblings, mother and grandmother to give him support as the new lord, but because of how he had to marry to secure his rule, he made a promise to himself that his little sister wouldn't have to do the same.
• For Want Of A Nail:
  • As mentioned in the premise, Aerys decided to take a more active move in his kingdom in demanding Lyanna's marriage to Rhaegar without annulment, beginning the train of changes.
  • In this world, instead of Ashara Dayne, Elia Martell took Ellaria Sand on as a Lady in Waiting. This changed court dynamics, and provides an explanation as to how she and Oberyn got together.
  • Due to a chance meeting of bumping into each other at Harrenhal, Cersei and Ned begin a troubled romance with each other which would change much of Tywin and Ned's personal and political paths.
  • With Aerys trying to be more active in getting his realm secured and growing obsessed with Dragon Egg issues, Melisandre arrives at King's Landing by invitation, beginning her journey with House Targaryen.
  • Catelyn happens to accidentally overhear everything about The Knight of the Laughing Tree and the dangers that would come from it being revealed. She's honorable enough to keep the secret, but becomes discontented enough that she has to tell someone. She passes the word to Petyr Baelish. Which in turn would be the nail that would lead to rebellion.
  • Perhaps due to being inspired by Lyanna to pursue his own happiness earlier in his life, Gerion actually manages to sail to Valyria, and find not only Brightroar but a host of other Valyrian steel weapons.
  • It seems in this world, Qyburn was given an ultimatum for his experiments to either leave oldtown for a minor keep, or lose his chain. He chose to leave, got picked up by House Dayne, ran into the royal family, and the rest is history.
  • Because he's inspired to join the war earlier than before, Tywin joins under closer supervision, and thus The Sack of King's Landing isn't a thing.
  • Due to Lord Quellon being too ill to direct any raids during Rhaegar's rebellion, this leaves the Iron Islands in a more stable, but also more secretive state, with Balon and Euron conspiring their rebellion slightly earlier than before, and using Quellon's supposed control as a way to secretly build the Iron Fleet.
  • Finding out about her pregnancy sent Lyanna and Rhaella back to the Red Keep for safety. Only to be there to run into Ser Bonifer for the first time in years, and be in the crosshairs of Euron's raid.
• Foreshadowing: Several times through the fic, Selwyn of Tarth is brought up. Either as a bannerman, or how his own house is now ogled due to his practices with his daughter. Then, in chapter 85, the payoff almost hits when Lyanna and Elia propose to make Brienne of Tarth a replacement for the fallen Lewyn Martell and the first female Kingsguard.
• The Fundamentalist:
  • Played with. Surprisingly enough, Melisandre isn't quite in this position as she finds a worthy religious head to dialog with in Septon Meribald, who indeed holds the same kind of tolerance of the other faiths.
  • The rest of the Septons aren't nearly as tolerant, looking down on the Old Gods and Rh'llor, and having serious issues with Rhaegar's 2nd marriage.
  • Catelyn also has this as a bad reputation in her life. Tywin comments she'd be a regular Septa if she wasn't a lady, and her own beliefs lead to some... problems with her becoming lady of Winterfell.
• Gambit Pileup: Well, this is Planetos. Even among just the things you see, you have many different passions and agendas conflicting with each other, with minor players playing into major plans, and some things getting cut short due to other agendas taking over.
  • Rhaegar just wants to protect his family and bring peace.
  • Tywin want to preserve and expand his standings, securing a legacy for his house.
  • Petyr Baelish is interested in rising in rank and avenging his humiliation by House Stark (and steal Catelyn).
  • Jon Connington wants to steal the love of Rhaegar by killing all competitors.
  • Cersei just wants to love and show her love through the strength of her mind.
  • Roose is working to undermine the Starks.
  • Robert just wants Lyanna for himself, while Stannis is interested in preserving the domain despite Robert's foolishness.
  • Doran wants to keep Dornish superiority.
• Game Changer: The return of dragons changed everything in the Seven Kingdoms. Now, there's a real ultimate threat of force that could be called on to maintain Targaryen hegemony. So most plans will either have to rush to completion before they become unstoppable, or adjust to take this fact into account.
• Good Stepmother: Cersei becomes this to Ned's children after Catelyn dies and she replaces her, seeing them as hers and loving them as dearly.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Balerion, an actual Death God of the Valryians, hellbent on wiping out the Targaryen line once and for all by any means necessary.
• The Heavy: The Greyjoy rebellion might've been a joint idea between Euron and Balon Greyjoy, but Euron was the true genius behind its wide range and bold targets, pushing it farther than any might expect.
• History Repeats: This is a constant that House Targaryen keeps a close eye out for. As their rule was plagued by infighting and rebellions at several instances, they're cautious to keep an eye on their children to ensure they build a better life rather than go right back into the old mistakes.
• Honor Before Reason: As several observers point out, Ned marrying Catelyn on the outbreak of war secures his army's passage in the immediate term without issue, but afterwards holds less power in a realm where the Tullys hold more symbolic power then material or manpower.
• I Fight for the Strongest Side!: This is part of why Tywin was hesitant to join Rhaegar's Rebellion at first, since he didn't want to join a war on a side that might lose. When he sees The first new dragon, he knew that he picked the right side.
• I Reject Your Reality: Robert’s obsession with Lyanna starts off at Entitled to Have You and gets increasingly delusional from there- he simply can’t conceive of a future where he and Lyanna don’t end up together. Even when Lyanna herself threatens to geld him, then kill him, ...In That Order if he ever does anything stupid to her or her spouses again, he’s too busy pondering on their “destiny” to take it seriously.
  • Jon Connington isn’t much better; he tries to get Lyanna killed by outing her as the Knight of the Laughing Tree, all as part of a “plan” to get Rhaegar to fall in love with him. This in spite of the fact that Rhaegar doesn’t feel the same, and even if he could, he’d never forgive Jon for killing his wife.
• Impeded Communication: Roose Bolton pulls a trick on Ned with this. He manages to get his hands on Holster Tully's message to Ned regarding the death of Brandon and their alliance against Aerys. However, Roose managed to forge the same letter, but without the last sentence which would've given Ned permission to not mary Cat without damaging their upcoming alliance.
• In Love with Your Carnage: Let's just say that when Eddard Stark gets angry, Cersei gets wet.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Though the realm would have a "legal" matter of Lyanna marrying Rhaegar, a series of events would still cascade into Rebellion. As Rickard and Brandon are still killed by Aerys.
  • Lysa Tully is married to the Vale to ensure a political alliance for a war.
  • Jaime Lannister is still proclaimed a Kingslayer. Though this time he gets it to protect Rhealla from being named a KINslayer.
  • The Greyjoys still do a rebellion.
  • Catelyn Stark is still killed in a surprise attack by the Lannisters.
• Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: Almost a recurring trope, especially in the earlier parts as the reign of Aerys II drives people to darker places.
• Kingmaker Scenario: Tywin ends up in this scenario TWICE!
  • First, in the middle of Rhaegar's Rebellion, he had the Westerlands declare the same neutrality as he did in canon, but as the fights continued, his daughter pointed out that they could get more concessions out of helping Rhaegar since Aerys was fighting from a position of authority. And when Melisandre presented him with a possibility of losing his legacy, he arrived just in time to help turn the Decisive Battle in the favor of Rhaegar.
  • Second, there was the 4th Great Council, where the realms were basically split over whether to have Aegon son of Elia, or Baelon son of Lyanna as Crown Prince of the Seven Kingdoms. ^note Rhaenys was briefly floated as a candidate by Dorne, but the rest of the realm wasn't ready to accept a queen as future sovereign still. While the royal family wanted to make a switch for Egg's long term health, the various regions had their own desires, as most of the kingdoms ended up splitting their votes. However, Tywin was such a feared and respected leader that "If he wanted it, he could order the Westerlords to jump off Casterly Rock", making him one of the few united voting blocks besides The North. And while he asked for a modest reward for his family (Gerion made Master of Arms in the keep), he saw much more political prospects (and deny his princely rival more effectively) by supporting the position of Baelon, and so helped legalize the change in inheritance.
• Lighter and Softer: In places. Some characters soften up, and with a stronger emphasis on family life with small children, there are stretches of some light (or smutty) reading.
  • Melisandre in particular, glamming onto Rhaegar as a man with a great destiny, seems less inclined to the extremes she went to in the books and shows.
  • Allister Thorne, due to House Targaryen surviving the rebellion, remains a trusted member of the court, and doesn't grow bitter at The Wall.
• Love at First Note: Lyanna falls in love with Rhaegar after hearing him sing and play 'Jenny of Oldstones'.
• Love Makes You Evil: Jon Connington coveted Rhaegar all for himself, and saw Lyanna repairing his marriages as detrimental to him understanding his own romantic love for him. This lead him down darker and darker paths to undermine Rhaegar's desires, until he's forced to flee Westeros when Rhaegar declares him an enemy.
• Love Redeems: Love grows others into their better selves as well. Ned's love for Cersei refines her, Jaime's love for Rhaella makes him better, Lyanna's love brings Rhaegar and Elia to better places.
• Loving a Shadow: Robert has it bad for Lyanna- or, rather, he has it bad for the dainty, swooning fantasy of her that he’s built up in his head.
• The Magic Comes Back: The magic of old was already beginning to creep back with Melisandre and the temple of Rh'llor being sought to work with dragon eggs, but more surprisingly, when we get sections from her perspective, we can see that there is some genuine supernatural occurances when she does fire gazing. Then, when Rhaegar actually manages to hatch a dragon, the magic begins to become even more potent.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: This is how the Lannisters kill Catelyn. They push her down the stairs as part of their scheme to get her killed, but keep it seeming all coincidental.
• Mama Bear: Something just about every mother in this story has in common.
• Manipulative Bastard: This is the world of Westeros. So there are a few of them.
  • Roose Bolton is always playing the long game. Presenting himself as a strategic mind to support the Starks, while playing behind their backs to undermine their control.
  • Jon Connington isn't as efficient as Roose is, but he's always playing the parts due to his own desires and dislikes. Whether fermenting the Ironborn or dropping the bomb on Lyanna's secret identity.
  • Petyr Baelish is still just warming up as a player in the Game of Thrones, but he's already using his mind to push people in different directions, like passing information via Lysa to Connington to bring the realm to chaos.
  • Even Tywin keeps his pieces close to the chest, so that when he's ready to spring a power play on Westeros, people's inclinations will push them to agreeing with his choices.
• Marital Rape License: Jaime runs into this when Aerys, in a fit of proud madness, goes to try and create a new "perfect dragon" for Viserys after he burned Brandon and Rickard. That he wishes to intervene, but is sworn not to for the family itself.
• Misaimed Fandom: In-Universe, Aerys lionizes the crueler, less popular monarchs as rulers who could keep the people in line, while disdaining those like Daeron II who got monikers like "good" for fixing the bad reigns. Forgetting that kings like Daeron could also be hard and strong as needed.
• Morality Kitchen Sink: Every person has their own ways of acting, and every lord and soldier has their own codes of conduct to achieve their ends. While people like Rhaegar and Rhaella are more toward the White side, their own impotence in the face of more forceful personalities sometimes drags them down from being true paragons. Others like Tywin and Doran are ruthless and cynical, but understand how politics work pretty well, and still care for their own. Even the god of death is spiteful, but also is carrying out his grandfather's wishes as a Freudian Excuse. Of course, there's also the truly repugnant like those Euron leads around.
• My Beloved Smother: Olenna Tyrell keeps putting her stamp on Reach politics. And while a lot of her senses are good, there are moments that feel like a lot, such as handling the betrothal of her 2nd grandson when he's 14.
• Mythology Gag:
  • As a way to weasel around the Tyrells being divided about supporting his claim, Rhaegar calls for A Trial by Seven like at the tournament that his grandfather Aegon was at when he met Dunk. He even makes a plea to the crowd asking, "Is there anyone here willing to fight for their King?"
  • Cersei says that the Ironborn "can't reach Winterfell". Oh, if only you could see the future Cersei.
  • Stannis, in a moment of passion, proposes to marry Lyneese Hightower, whom he realizes he doesn't implicitly trust despite being intrigued by her. Then he sees his canon wife Selyse Florent and thinks, it could've been worse.
  • A family is living in exile where there's a big lemon tree with a son, a daughter, and a mother watching over them. No, we're not referencing Daenarys's childhood home from canon. In this is probably Illyrio's wife Saera and her children living in that space due to Rhaegar's success.
• Named by the Adaptation:
  • Arthur and Ashara's elder brother, the father of Edric who was never named in canon, is named Aleric here.
  • Also, there are several unnamed people like Doran, Elia and Oberyn's mother or Steffon's Aunt who get small mentions of their names by people who actually did have a proper relationship with them.
• Nice Guy: Like always, Ned Stark. With the exception of Jon Connington and Aerys everyone likes Ned, finding his genuine kindness, calm nature and humbleness absolutly refreshing. From Rhaegar to Cersei, from Rhaenys to Elia to Arthur Dayne to Oberyn Martell and most everyone in between, Ned just seems to have the kind of quiet charm that earns him fast friends.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • Catelyn genuinely didn't mean to out Lyanna as the Knight of the Laughing Tree, but by trusting Petyr Baelish with the information, it eventually got into traitorous hands.
  • Under the influence of Balerion, Elia and Lyanna almost break their family due to their own fears and frustrations.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Rhaegar's Rebellion was plagued with mistakes both intentional and unintentional by Aerys's side.
  • For starters, the rebellion itself was a mistake on Connington's part, as by trying to undermine House Stark by revealing Lyanna is the Knight of the Laughing Tree, he caused the northern realms to rise in revolt, and thus lead to the slow decline of his fortunes.
  • Jon Fossoway thought himself clever to get Rhaegar arrested for reward with Aerys, but the end result of it not only got him killed, but also weakened the Faith's case against Rhaegar because he won a Trial by Seven. And Olenna remarked that it gave her clearance to find her daughter Janna a better betrothal as well as giving Rhaegar the dragon egg he was destined to use.
  • Aerys's impatience lead to the initial Crown armies attacking too quickly, thus giving Rhaegar's armies a bloodletting that would boost their confidence.
  • Robert trying to burn Rhaegar alive, just gave him the space to hatch his dragon.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: While Rhaegar already had some historical parallels from the books, a new person added on is that of Constantine I AKA Constantine The Great. Coming from high origins, he ended up leading a rebellion against a rightful ruler in part because he thought he could do better. At a famous decisive battle, he was given a vision of a symbol to win by, and through his reforms and force of personality, managed to reinvigorate the realm for at least a while longer.
• Not So Stoic: Stannis Baratheon became hard and dour after the death of his parents. But he surprised even himself when on a whim after their naval victory, he proposed to marry Lyneese Hightower due to him seeing her as a breath of fresh air compared with other Reach ladies.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Funnily enough, the rebellion in this timeline also serves as this for Westeros in both the immidiate and long term consequences. While there is plays on this with the death of Aerys, Jamie being named a Kingslayer and the ascension of a new king, the details change everything in many regions. With Rhaegar's successful rebellion, some major recognizable characters such as Pycelle and Renly are killed. There's major fallout for the Tyrell line with the head and heir both dying. Dorne keeps its connections with the kingdoms due to Elia and Aegon's survival. And most important of all, Dragons have returned to the realm.
• Only Sane Man: Aeron Greyjoy comes out as this, seeing that Balon and Euron's ambitions in a Greyjoy Rebellion would only lead to the ruin of their "kingdom".
• Papa Wolf: Just about every father in this story is this to their children.
• Parental Favoritism: Quellon Greyjoy, having lived to see his sons reach maturity, understands that only one of them will truly continue his vision of reforming the Iron Islands. As such, with one of his few coherent conversations left, he charges Aeron to help save the islands.
• Patchwork Fic: Adapts multiple parts of both the show and the books, along with some video game elements.
• Patron God: Though she hasn't exactly asked for much in return other than to have them actually listen to her, Tessarion becomes a patron of the Royal Family, providing healing and miracles as their destinies approach.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage: A few occur.
  • First, there's Rhaegar's duel marriages to Lyanna Stark and Elia Martell. He didn't choose either of them, and Elia's marriage was rough for the first few years. But with Lyanna's influences on all of them, they eventually cultivate a highly passionate Threesome where they all get some, and begin producing plenty of heirs in the process.
  • Garlan Tyrell is forced into a marriage with one Melissa Fossoway to stabilize the Reach after Mace committed suicide after the death of Wilas. Given the Age-Gap Romance element of the marriage (Garlan was only 14 while Melissa was already 31 and a widow) it could've been highly uncomfortable, but Garlan's young honor and Melissa's calm understanding makes for a solid relationship overall.
  • In the midst of the Greyjoy Rebellion, Tywin Lannister uses some leverage to get a betrothal between his daughter Cersei and Ned Stark. Of course, he already knew they were Star-Crossed Lovers with a bastard child, so the marriage immediately turns passionate and glorious, with Cersei already having several children by the last timeskip.
  • Also during the Greyjoy Rebellion, Stannis Baratheon, partially due to the political needs of getting some favor from the rich House Hightower, and partially because he liked her during the one conversation they had beforehand, arranges to marry Lyneese Hightower. While stunned that he could be so reckless after a life built on serious preparation, the two turn out to be good for each other. Lyneese gets to keep a high class life with a man she can respect, and Stannis gets a smart wife who along with their daughter Shireen brings him all the best joys of his life.
• Polyamory: Against all odds, Lyanna, Rhaegar and Elia have this intercrossed with each other.
• Pragmatic Villainy: When Euron leads a sack of Oldtown, many of his reavers want to go ahead and try and take over the whole city. Euron though recognizes it's too big and his forces too small to do something so reckless, and settles for a simple plundering of everything they can before moving on to another battle.
• The Prophecy: This is Westeros after all. Prophecy is present in many places, with the Red Temple giving quite a few of them.
  • On seeing the dragon eggs, Melisandre prophesizes that the black one shall belong to the one which shall break the curse of Old Valaria. And that two of the other eggs will belong to a wolf and a false dragon.
  • Cersei again is given a prophecy from Maggy, but this time it's different: She's told she'll enter a line of kings, and the man she marries will love her, but be haunted by one long dead. She'd have seven "children" though the greatest will not be of her line. But that her whole world will be threatened by death, and the "valonqar" will emerge from the mists and kill her favorite child.
  • Melisandre gives a pair of mini prophecies in the Reach. To Rhaegar, he's told that he'll meet his destiny. To Jon Fossoway, she gives a warning that to wade into the night might not give him safety from a knife in the back. Sure enough, Jon dies due to a knife in the back, and Rhaegar finds his destined Dragon Egg at Highgarden.
  • Melisandre tells Tywin that his house's place in history will be secured by his children in both the next war, and the war after that, but only if he does his duty for this war ( Rhaegar's Rebellion).
    • She also assures Tyrion that he's a little man with a big shadow, hinting that he has a great role to play yet.
  • Kinvara foretells that Daenerys will change darkness to light, break chains and do great things.
• Rags to Riches: Like in most stories, Davos Seaworth has a story of undeniable growth. From a simple shipper whose wife ran an orphanage in Fleabottom, to Master of Ships, Lord outside Blackwater and his wife is a Lady-in-waiting to the Dowager Queen. He even gets to keep his fingers since he helps the gentle queens rather than stern Stannis.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: In a way, Rhaegar's court is rapidly shaping up to be this. While he is the rightful king who had to overthrow his father for the sake of the kingdom, he's gathering an increasingly unconventional group around him. His mother served as Hand of the King for a few years along with her lover who took the fall for her. There's his 2 queens, one an Iron Lady building her confidence back up. The other a free spirited Action Girl. He invited a wandering priest and a Hot Witch to act as spiritual advisors along with a Mad Doctor to push boundaries For Science! as the Grand Maester. The current Master of Ships is a Rags to Riches story, a eunuch mummer is a holdover from the last monarch as The Spymaster, and the Masters of Law and War are relatively minor lords who decided to join Rhaegar early in the war.
• Related Differently in the Adaptation:
  • Since Rhaella is whom Jaime sires Myrcella from, Cersei is no longer also her mother and is instead, just her aunt.
  • Allyria, instead of being her younger sister, is Ashara's daughter with Benjen. By extension, this makes her Arthur's niece instead of sister.
  • Rickon is Jon's full-brother (instead of half-brother according to canon or cousin according to Fanon) and Lyanna's son instead of nephew here. This means that the Stark children are his cousins.
  • Downplayed with Sansa's relation to Robb and Arya. In canon, they all shared the same mother, who's Catelyn. Since Cersei is Robb and Arya's mother here, Sansa's their half sister.
• Related in the Adaptation: Because pairings different from canon happened here, some previously unrelated characters have become kin to one another in some form or another.
• The Resenter: After the rebellion, Viserys takes on this role as the child who got stuck with Aerys's temperments. But who was also promised power at too young an age to understand what his father had truly become. So, when Rhaegar finally gets his rebellion done, he's none to happy.
• Screw Destiny: Cersei has some fear for Maggie the Frog's prophecy about her family to be, and seeks to avoid losing anyone in the time to come.
• Sequel Hook: The Targaryen family seems to be in a much better place to build a better empire off of. Two kingdoms tied together with marriage, with three others either too weak or amiable enough to be okay with what comes next. The Kingsguard maintained with blood old and new to bring honor and glory. Several new children to hold everything together in the future. A rock solid marriage between the Power Trio. Many more happy faces compared with the original rebellion setup. And of course, 10 living dragons to enforce their will in the future. HOWEVER, not everything is settled yet. Three of the kingdoms still hold bad blood for personal or political reasons. Some of the family isn't quite happy with how things have turned out. Several loose threads from the rebellions and a mystery still hangs over the story. And most important of all, Balerion, Valerian god of death, has given a pact with the exiled House Blackfyre to heal a child, show that Saera is unburnt, and hatch 6 rival dragons to one day challenge the throne in Balerion's quest to destroy the Targaryens.
• Shout-Out: Being an Evil Overlord, Aerys gets a few shout outs to other despots of media.
  • In punishing a subordinate for failing, he says, "Apology accepted" after killing him.
  • Right before he dies, he says, "Even with all the power in the world, you're still weak."
• Shotgun Wedding: Viserys is forced to marry Talisa after getting her pregnant.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Despite her own original desires, in this story Cersei ends up enamored of Ned, seeing in him a simple wisdom that regrounds her life after her own desires are slammed in her face.
• Sliding Scale of Gender Inequality: Despite the nature of this world, this story lands somewhere between Men are More Equal and Almost Perfect Equality. While Men might hold many of the positions of power through the whole story, the ladies begin claiming more power and influence as the story progresses. Perhaps best symbolized by Queen Rhaella Targaryen. Starting as a marital trauma victim, but through support, love, hope, and a little divine intervention, rises to be a dragonrider, The Mentor for her grandchildren, An assertive lover, and for several in universe years, the first female hand of the king. She does have to lose some of her privileges due to politics, but her rise also inspires other changes in other parts of the seven kingdoms, signaling a cultural and political change in the winds for gender equality.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Melara Heatherspoon isn't dead in this story. Perhaps in part because in this version, Cersei heard Maggy the Frog's prophecy alone, and perhaps in part because the prophecy is more about Cersei's family than herself.
  • Young Elbert Arryn doesn't end up going south with Brandon, so he ends up Lord of the Vale long past his original point of death.
  • Arthur Dayne is a main viewpoint into the Kingsguard, and survives the rebellion.
    • On that note, Ashara is still alive and well too.
  • Gerion Lannister does much of the same things as canon, but this time, he does return successful, and becomes a part of the Red Keep.
• Starter Villain: Surprisingly, Jon Fossoway is Rhaegar's warmup boss in his Rebellion. A simple man with ambitions who provides an early challenge to his legitimacy politically and physically.
• Tragic Mistake: Catelyn was a well meaning young woman who had some bad habits, but her great mistake was finding out the secret of the Knight of the Laughing Tree, and trusting it to the one person she really shouldn't have: Petyr Baelish.
• Token Evil Teammate: Technically, Rhaegar has plenty of vipers and vultures who would come into his orbit while trying to maintain a right to rule, but for specifics...
  • Doran Martell was the last of the great lords to pledge support to his attack on King's Landing, and only had interests in maintaining the privileges of Dorne rather than any greater duties to the realm.
  • In his fights in the Riverlands, Bronn as a rough sellsword had much lower ideals to go after the enemy, but his willingness to do whatever it takes to win would serve Rhaegar well as a field commander.
  • Roose Bolton was always a bit shifty, but would always carry out orders loyally for The North. Plus, since he got to flay Boros Blout without remorse, he's not a good man by any means.
  • And finally, Tywin Lannister has the same self serving goals as Doran, and also has a record of brutality under his time as Lord Paramount. However, because of his resources and experience, Rhaegar ends up taking him on as a Number Two even though he doesn't fully agree with all his assessments.
• Took a Level in Badass: Queen Rhaella never learns to fight per se, but does grow into an Iron Lady who also fights on dragonback.
• Trial by Combat: Rhaegar invokes the ancient Trial by Seven as a way to get out of the issues of being outnumbered and captured in the Reach.
• Übermensch: Rhaegar is starting to show signs of this, in part encouraged by some..."higher" powers that as a Dragon, he can rewrite the rules of what to do with his family's lives, and live by his own ways. Even ignoring some of the stronger non-military organizations of the realm for his own directives.
• The Unfavorite: Poor Lysa Tully has no grace among the POV characters. Disdained by her desired man Littlefinger, scorned by the starks, and eventually used as a political pawn into a rocky marriage in the Vale that isn't really improved despite him being much closer in age.
• Unwanted Spouse: Sadly, in this reality, this goes both ways for Eddard and Catelyn. Catelyn has her old devotion for his brother Brandon, while Ned has a Star-Crossed Lovers relationship to Cersei. Both of them do at least nominally try to make it work, though despite starting to build a proper relationship, everything falls apart when Cat finds out about Robb Hill, and then she died of an assassination.
• Wham Episode:
  • Chapter 42: "Burn them All". The culmination of the slow burn of character arcs in King's Landing comes to a head as Petyr Baelish's Dark Secret from Catelyn reaches Aerys. Brandon formalizes his declaration to Rickard that he wishes to forfeit his birthright to Ned, about to self-actualize and make a natural transition of power for Eddard. Unfortunately, before any of that, Aerys commands Rickard and Brandon burned for being a part of the "conspiracy" of the Knight of the Laughing Tree. And with their deaths, the spark of war is finally ignited after 16 chapters of intrigue.
  • Chapter 57: "The Sunrise Dragon". At the conclusion of the Battle of the Bells, Tywin fights for Rhaegar's faction at the end, but a price is paid across the field. Willas Tyrell dies, as well as Loren Payne. But most surprising, in their rematch on the field, Robert tries to burn Rhaegar in a tent, but ends up causing instead for the hatching of the first of the new dragons, showing that the rebirth of house Targaryen is going to happen a little sooner here.
  • Chapter 65: "What Have I Done?". We're introduced to the Greater-Scope Villain of the story, and see how he acts against the royal family, now stuck in the throws of the Red Plague. In fear, anger and frustration with each other and their own inner doubts, Lyanna and Elia say such hurtful things to each other that Elia accidentally brings down a curse on baby Jon.
  • Chapter 68: "A Difficult Choice". After everything, a few big wrinkles hit the family. Rhaella is pregnant by Jaime. And Aegon is revealed to now have long term illnesses now due to the experimental treatments Qyburn gave him to save his life. As such, the family calls the Fourth Great Council to help decide the line of succession.
  • Chapter 72: "The Lannisters Send Their Regards". The Greyjoy Rebellion begins kicking into high gear, with Euron scoring 2 major raid victories, and Tygett Lannister dying in a vain charge to try and protect Lannisport. Forcing Tywin to withdraw to protect himself under a siege. However, thousands of miles away, Tywin pulls a surprise move for his bastard grandson. He secretly dispatches an assassin to plot the downfall of Caetlyn Stark right after she and Ned have an argument over Brandon's desires, Sansa's future and bastard children.
• Wham Line: The line that begins the cascade of changes for the story trajectory. Aerys telling his son, "You will wed Lyanna Stark."
• Wham Shot: Olenna offering something to Rhaegar as a "pay-off" to ensure the safe return of her son: A dragon egg.
• Wild Card: Varys. No matter how sincere he might seem, not everyone fully trusts him. And the fact that his information might not come out as quickly or as effectively as some might think it could makes some think that he's got other reasons for controlling his whispers the way he does.
• Women Are Wiser: Olenna gets people pretty quickly. She recognizes that Brandon Stark wasn't a true lord material, was able to sus out Ned and Cersei's path forward, and recognized that Catelyn wouldn't be able to adapt to the north. In some ways, this is couched in her blunt demeanor that makes others resistant to her observations, but it doesn't change the fact that she understands how things are much quicker than many others.

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