Was Aerys II a good king?

Robert was only a drunkard after the war; he lost the woman he loved, probably quite a few friends while in battle, and was given a crown he never truly wanted, a garbage marriage. Cersai deserved everything Robert did to her, she was a cheating, lying, hateful person who abused Robert emotionally and mentally (but that's okay, cause it's not physical, right? Hypocrisy and misandric garbage.). As someone said, he did try to make the marriage work, more so than she did. She even killed his son with her. You can't blame the financial problems on Robert when Little Finger was funneling money to himself and hiding it. Robert knew he wasn't an administrator, that's why he left his small council decide most things.

We have one confirmed bastard from before Lyanna's death, and one alleged but highly dubious (Bella). His whoremongering only started in earnest after his heart was broken and he was saddled with Cersei.



The idea that Ned believes that Robert didn't truly love Lyanna is actually directly contradicted in the novels:


"Lyanna had only been sixteen, a child-woman of surpassing loveliness. Ned had loved her with all his heart. Robert had loved her even more. She was to have been his bride."
(AGOT, Eddard I)



People seem to confuse this with when Ned told Robert he never knew Lyanna as well as Ned did:

"The woman tried to forbid me to fight in the melee. She's sulking in the castle now, damn her. Your sister would never have shamed me like that."

"You never knew Lyanna as I did, Robert," Ned told him. "You saw her beauty, but not the iron underneath. She would have told you that you have no business in the melee."
(AGOT, Eddard VII)


Besides the obvious fact that of course Lyanna's own brother would know her better than her betrothed, Ned fundamentally misunderstood what Robert meant. He thought Robert was upset that Cersei tried to get him to refrain from the melee, when in fact Robert was upset that Cersei said that she forbade it in public, hence why he said she "shamed [him]". When Varys sets Ned straight he is also upset by Cersei's behavior:

"The queen … no, I will not believe that, not even of Cersei. She asked him not to fight!"

"She forbade him to fight, in front of his brother, his knights, and half the court. Tell me truly, do you know any surer way to force King Robert into the melee? I ask you."

Ned had a sick feeling in his gut. The eunuch had hit upon a truth; tell Robert Baratheon he could not, should not, or must not do a thing, and it was as good as done. "Even if he'd fought, who would have dared to strike the king?"
(AGOT, Eddard VII)

Turns out that Robert knew Lyanna well enough. He was right, she never would have shamed him like that.



The rest of what you write about Robert and his views on Lyanna are pure conjecture and not in any way based on the novels.



You seem to have a serious ax to grind with Robert Baratheon, but remember that he is not supposed to be a black and white character. He is, in the end, a failure. But he is a tragic failure, a victim of other people's evils, perpetrator of his own evils, and in the end a man who could not handle the loss of Lyanna and lost everything that made him great: physical fitness, inspiring leadership, unyielding drive...

Yes and no, the thing is Robert "loved" the idea of Lyanna Stark, he never really got to know her. To me that is truly what dammed Cersei and Robert marriage, she probrably would had a chance to a functional one if Robert and Lyanna get to really know each other. Cersei would be competing with the memory of a person then, but against a idealized ghost that couldn't do wrong? She never had a chance, neither any other woman would really.

You have a point and i kind of don't explained my well enough, and yes they get to meet and talk, since they were already bethroad during the Harrenhal Tourney and Robert was with Ned in his trip to Winterfell when they get the bethroal going. But the thing is, Robert and Ned were both being warded by Jon Arryn, since Ned was 8 years old until Robert Rebellion, so  there was not Robert travelling to go see Ned in Winterfell, they were already living together in the Vale. And we don't hear of Robert crossing half of Westeros to go say hi to Lyanna.

So yeah, The Tourney in Harrenhal was probrably the second to sixth time they meet each other, and Lyanna already talked to Ned of how she didn't trusted Robert be able to keep to one bed during the first time, because of his bastard, and during Harrenhal she was more interested in spending time with Ned and Roland from what we see. Btw she had like 15 years during Harrenhal, Robert being 19, so for being the sixth time i was highballing it and saying he impregneted Mya's mom with 13 years, then go to Winderfell with Ned when 15, and visited her every year since at least once to get to know her...

The thing is, i really doubt it, Robert can't even remember her face when we get to when ASOIAF started, meaning he probrably didn't spended much time with her, and btw Ned also didn't, being in the Vale and all that. Also to get to know someone is two way street, and Lyanna at least from what we hear from Ned was not to confident in Robert so i don't see her opening up to him and being something more than nice and courteous.

Hope this clarify what i said before, "Robert didn't get to know Lyanna" didn't meant he didn't get to meet and talk to her, i was talking about as a person, what she was like when pissed, when sad or really happy... All those things that make a person more than the "idea" we have from someone when just meeting them sometimes.

True enough, but that sounds more of a thing he would hear from Ned than see Lyanna showing by herself, most people seem to thing of Lyanna as this Lady who was taken by Rhaegar, so she was not open with her more daring side, yeah she and Ned saved Reed from a bunch of squires and was a good ridder, but that is as much of what we hear from Ned himself. And tihs is also kind of my point, Robert loved this Warrior Wolf Queen of his that he would forever be loyal too, but  the thing is they never had a reality check in that, don't get me wrong, Robert pre-Lyanna's death was a amazing guy, his actions during the Rebellion proves this well enough.

My point was that he don't getting a solide year of marriage or at least really knowing her and finding things he disliked about the girl was what dammed his marriage with Cersei. She was a asshole and abusive to him? Yeah, they were to each other really, but from what we hear from Cersei she at least don't started like that, being more like "Alright cool black bearded strong blue eyed sex machine of a man? I can work with that..." Then a wild drunken Lyanna line during they first time and Cersei know that she would be forever second for a death girl and never be loved by the husband, couple it with the constantly drinking, getting fat and whoring around and we get that shitshow that was the royal couple during ASOIAF.

But to be thrutful this whole mess was more the fault of a Rhaegar than any single one else, if was true that Lyanna really loved him the prince could just go to King's Landing married her in their Godswood, go with "I shall have a wife under the seven and one under the Old Gods." When Brandon showed up he could talk to him with Lyanna being like "Look my dude i love your sister Lyanna loves me, did you see she crying her eyes out when i played my harp in Harrenhal? Common lets talk this out... I'm even adopting the Old Gods as a co-religon with the Seven!"And then go to his father "Look my dad, i just bringed the North to your side by marriage and religion, you can tots trust me to solve this whole thing don't need to start burning people or anything." When Robert started to be pissed about Rhaegar stealing his girl he could be like "Whelp, should taken the harp as a istrument instead of a hammer... And common, lets not start a war over that, she choose me, if you really love Lyanna at least respect her choice, also the Tully girls are single, why you and my new brother Ned go spend sometime in the Trident, such a nice place... Btw do want to Talk to Lyanna before leaving?" and that would be that, Rhaegar would be seen as a promoter of peace and if Robert tried to start something he would be seen as a warmonger who was pissed because Lyanna choosed the prince instead of him.

But no, the creepy asshole needed to go with her to his sex pad, aka the Tower of Joy, and let his crazy ass of a father start a civil war... And no, Aerys II was not a good king, bringing back to the original question of the thread Tywin was a godly hand, and that was what prevented Aerys of creating a debt even worse than Robert's by trying to fulfill one of his promises, like another goddam wall for example. But i personally put the fault of him losing it all in the Citadel and the Maesters than in anyone else really because yeah he was also right about somethings, and the Citadel gang was setting up the Targaryens downfall for generations already..