Sixteenth, King Jaehaerys Targaryen. A friend of mine said he should be all the top five, but that struck me as somewhat silly (similarly, with all due respect, to Robin Pierson assigning blame for 1204 to Andronikos I firstly). But he did indeed help lay the ground for the Dance, so here he is.

Fifteenth, Lord Corlys Velaryon. Corlys remains my GOAT but his vaulting ambition and drive to establish a legacy as equal to the Targaryens provided further tension and helped set the second line in the sand that would define the Dance (Hightowers on one side, Velaryons on the other).

Fourteenth, Ser Harwin Strong. Look, by this point I'm kind of running out of people to really blame, but the man really was not helping Rhaenyra by fathering children with her and maybe after Lucerys he should have gotten better about, ahem, knowing when to exit.

Thirteenth, Lord Commander Harrold Westerling. Man this guy REALLY needed to nip Criston in the bud when he had the chance, and the man must be willfully blind to somehow miss that all but one of his other fellow Small Councilors are plotting a usurpation of the Iron Throne.

Twelfth, the High Septon. He crowned and anointed Aegon and while the Faith is exceptionally weak for an organized religion in a medieval fantasy setting, he clearly had some power and influence and decided to use it to crown the Hightower candidate.

Eleventh, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen. Look I love Rhaenys, she's great, but there's a certain myopia where she's clearly willing to kill or injure dozens, if not hundreds at the Dragonpit, but refuse to burn almost all the Greens because they are her extended family, thus letting the Dance happen.

Tenth, Lord Jason Lannister. Similar to the Hightower lords, he provides much of the military muscle and coin the Greens need for their plan, and he absolutely knew what Viserys wanted, making him a fully complicit traitor. His direct involvement in the conspiracy seems limited, though.

Ninth, bringing us to Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen. Look, she was in the right, but her retreat to Dragonstone to do gods know what let the Greens have the run of the capital and her initial indecision at a critical hour let the Dance spin out of control.

Eighth, King Viserys Targaryen, ol' Vizzy Tee. The buck stops here, and Viserys was, ultimately, a weak man who catastrophically mismanaged his family and failed to exercise control where it was really needed. Also his imparting of Aegon's Dream only fueled Rhaenyra's own sense of destiny to rule.

Seventh, Aemond Targaryen. Lower than you might expect but to be honest I think his killing of Lucerys, which was clearly an accident in the show, only accelerated the Dance; war was basically inevitable by that point. But I guess he may have set the terms of the war: fratricidal and to the death.

Sixth, a tie between Lords Hobert and Ormund Hightower. Far from the main action at King's Landing, but ultimately they provide the core military strength of the Green faction and Hobert, at least, was encouraging Otto to further their advancement. Also Ormund's plan suggests he has considered this.

Fifth, basically the entire Green Council, all of whom conspired with Otto to acclaim Aegon king. That made civil war inevitable, despite what everyone seemed to think, though I don't think they did much to actually stoke the individual enmities that shaped the Dance.

Fourth, before you think this is just an exercise in Green-bashing, Prince Daemon Targaryen. One of the main drivers of conflict in the pre-Dance court, I genuinely think that his rivalry with Otto, his atrocious conduct, and his unwillingness to negotiate made the Dance basically inevitable.

Third, Ser Criston Cole. Along with dear ol' Alicent helped set the mood among the Targaryen offspring by fostering their rivalries and petty feuds and helping sink any attempt to find a peace before the Dance. Another winner of the "sowing/reaping" award.

Second, apparently a controversial take, Queen Alicent Hightower. Perhaps the epitome of the "sowing/reaping" meme on this show, she has the dubious honor of both gassing her kids up for war and then shrinking away from it when war is at hand. She helped set the mood for her kids.

First up, you know him, you hate him, it's Ser Otto Hightower. I mean, come on, who else was it going to be? He'd been planning a coup to overturn the succession for months, if not decades, by the time Viserys died, and he did it poorly to boot. He bears the most direct responsibility for the Dance.

Now watching

Look! It's Ser Criston Cole!

Look at this woke progressive cliche, I can't believe it. Don't the writers know that even "found family" imposes obligations and conflicts between them?

Stop scrolling and post two characters who bring you happiness.

In which the author of a Heraclius LARP mod for TW Attila explains why he anachronistically changed the name of a province: he's also a Zionist. Though this might be a joke. Who fucking knows at this point.

Justinian II and Tervel confront Tiberius III (c. 705 CE) (yes I know the crown isn't exactly accurate, I'm doing my best with the tools I have)

"Nancy Mace lost her primary"

Same boat as Kris

You know what? Fair enough.

NGL I don't think this is quite right.

The Roman Empire in TW Attila The Long Dark be like "Well the world is engulfed by a ruinous Ice Age but we still have lots of land in Alexandria. How can we make it prop up our economy?"

Oh well that explains it.

Me as the most influential scholar in the field turns more and more people into anti-Kantakouzenists

TURN YOUR HEAD AND SEE THE FIELDS OF FLAMES