What's with incest in Game of Thrones?

Question

Weird question I know, but if it's wrong for Jaime and Cersei's twincest, why is it okay for the Targaryens? And why is it wrong for brother and sister, but Tywin's wife was his cousin, that's okay? And why was the response to Craster "no man should have that many wives", not ew he keeps marrying his daughters, then marries those daughters, incesption. Also, was Sam the only one that noticed there were no sons, I mean, how did no one else notice that? Idk, and pardon my incest puns.

Historyguy · Answer

Marrying your cousin is acceptable in some of these elite families.  Royals often married a cousin of some sort although usually not a first cousin.  It even happens in living memory in the real world.  Franklin Roosevelt married his IIRC third cousin, Elanor Roosevelt.

The Targaryens get a pass on incest because they were royalty and were foreigners, descended from the blood of Old Valyria.  The fact that their incest was tolerated doesn't mean that everyone else had license to boink their sisters.  And we see in the Dunk and Egg tales a scene where Dunk reacts with revulsion to how casually Aegon Targaryen discusses the possibility of marrying his sisters.  So the incest taboo in Westeros clearly survived the conquest by the Targaryens.

Anonymous · Answer

To add to what Allan said in the books the Targaryens were said to be descendants of dragons and dragons had to keep their bloodline pure in order to retain their ancestry. It was often alluded to that many of the Targaryens' children were weak or stillborn. (as they had few offspring)

And with Craster he was a wilding which are generally referred to as being "uncivilized" or "barbaric" which is why, even though it was completely wrong for him to marry his own daughters no one felt like this wa out of line for "Someone who was even an outcast from the wildings".

It has been a while since I read the books but I think most of that info is mostly correct.

Anonymous · Answer

Cousin marriage is marriage between people with a common grandparent or other more distant ancestor. In various cultures and legal jurisdictions, such marriages range from being considered ideal and actively encouraged, to being uncommon but still legal, to being seen as incest and legally prohibited.

Third Earth Age · Answer

"Game of Thrones" is trying to help Liberals promote their next (sick) movement. After being successful in making gay marriage legal in many states in the USA, Liberals are now doing their best to promote incestuous marriage in America.

Aslam · Answer

Consensual sibling incest seems to be rising in popularity, so it was put into "Game of Thrones".

What's with incest in Game of Thrones?

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