Today let's break down Aeyron's character arc, straight from Aeyron 1 to Aeyron 13.
`Aeyron Archer is very much a symbolisis of what it is to be someone with the world at your feet. He's is the king at 23, he's had a peaceful reign since he took over at 18. He's handsome, he's one of the best with a sword and he's incredibly confident. He enjoys life. However in his enjoyment on life Aeyron has forgotten about those that are not involved in his life, his leniency has allowed some kingdoms to feel dissatisfied with the attention he is giving to them. Aeyron spends his time from day to day, not worrying about the next thing. And he spends most of his attention on being with the woman he loves, Joanna Forrester, rather than the kingdoms. Joanna, amplifies everything about him - she makes him more confident, she makes him more happy, she makes him feel complete. Aeyron could easily give a marriage proposal and marry Joanna, but he loves her independence - he wants to make sure she's completely sure about the decision. What happens when a person is madly in love? They become jealous and protective.
When Joanna tells him she's going to leave to The North for a while, he thinks of going with her - so he knows she's safe, so he can continue to see her but he doesn't push for this because he lets Joanna make the final decision. When Ulthor 'kidnaps' Joanna, Aeyron sees it as a failure on his part. He failed to protect her from harm, he failed to protect her from the jealous Ulthor. Aeyron doesn't think much about the other kingdoms, that have risen up against him - 'they have HER!' he says. '“What sort of king am I that I can’t protect my own people” the king reflected'. Aeyron leaves the Kingdoms in the hands of people like Ignis as he decides to go out to Eastend to lead the army. He's impatient, he can't trust anyone other than himself because no-one understands his love for her, except for him.
So he struggles to tell people how much she means to him, he feels that he cannot show that bit of emotion. He is the king, he is meant to be cold, calculating and decisive - which in his mind means that he cannot show any extreme emotions. The stress of being a king, knowing that he's failed his kingdoms, knowing that the people he love are dying, knowing that Joanna is with a betrayer like Ulthor he cannot take it on his shoulders, and he can not redistribute the weight. Aeyron totally fears for Joanna's safety, he doesn't know what Ulthor might do to her, and frustration builds as no one can find her.
Aeyron's far younger than the majority of lords in the Kingdoms so he feels pressure not to fail them, not to be judged as a youthful idiot. He needs to maintain a non-emotional image because these older men have seen far more than him, and are far more judging that him. 'Aeyron saw the biggest difference between himself and the others. Age and experience. Aeyron may be incorrect with the numbers but he thought Lord Strong was fifty-six, Lord Cross was forty-eight, Lord Forrester was forty-six, Lord Bolton was forty-five, Lord Locke was forty-seven and so was Lord Bluetown.
The only youth in the room was himself, Ser Lewyn and Lord Quentyn. King of the Youth? Nearly every lord is older than me, how am I king? '
In Aeyron's mind he envisions that he needs to become more cunning like those older lords, and he wrongfully believes that means that he needs to be crueller. No doubt he looks to the successes of Lord Tywon Casterly, a man that intimidated him five years ago. ' It was my fault, I let this happen. If I was less pitiless I would’ve sent Ulthor away months ago. No crack in a fortress may be counted small, I hadn’t known then but I know now. Kindness was the crack, no king earns his kingdoms through kindness and I had won mine through the rebellion. I had killed men to gain this damned throne, back then when I was Aeyron Archer with something to prove but now I was king. More people knew me as ‘the king’ and not by my own name. If I were ruthless I could have protected Joanna and save her. '
He's in a frenzy, stuck between portraying two different people - The king and Aeyron Archer, he's plagued by self-doubt. The worst thing is that Aeyron feels he needs to compensate people now, all types of people no matter who they are, he allows Lord Ahriman to whispher in his ear at the feast of King's Landing, but his two sisters can see Ahriman clearly.
As the war progresses, Aeyron finds it exceedingly harder to maintain the persona of the King, at every moment he is threatening to break down. 'Once Ignis left the King was at peace. He turned back revealing Aeyron’s face which had one tear dribbling down his face. The young man had hid that face from his loyal lords. The feelings of fear, defeat, guilt encased him tightening his throat. Aeyron brought a hand to his mouth his breathing had long pauses between them. He struggled to keep his emotions in check and they ran riot in him.' Throughout the entire war there is only one thing that is keeping him going, and that is is love for Joanna. He has imagined endlessly what it would be like to see her again, to know that all that suffering was worth it to know she was safe. He imagines how greatful she would be when she sees him again, how he fought for heaps of men just to be with her. It's like poetry in his mind. They'll sing about the two of them forever and ever. 'The King and his Guardian Angel' he dubs it.
At the climax of the war at The Battle of the Reach, Aeyron lets everything go - all of what has been pent up in his body is released during the battle. It's why there are three personas to Aeyron Archer, - himself, The King, and the man he is during battle. When he sees Ulthor, his mind races with the pain of the war - evrything he had lost is put onto Ulthor and he doesn't hold back, visciously murdering Ulthor - losing any of the grace he had during the battle. 'he was not Aeyron but The Demon of the Reach'.
Whatever happened in the past year doesn't matter to him though, as finally he will have Joanna by his side, and he can barely wait. It even pains him to be so-and-so metres apart.
Now, what happens next crushes Aeyron. And I mean, he will never be the same person again after this. He's sacrificed everything to just see Joanna's face again, and when he sees her after a gruelling, intense war he sees her dying with babies by her side. When Joanna admits the children are hers and Ulthors, everything that Aeyron thought would be lifted from the end of the war actually just crushes him, and add on the pain from Joanna's statement he just imagines himself as a complete failure.
When he sits on the throne for the last time in the book, the two personas of Aeyron have merged at that point. Aeyron Archer no longer upholds the image of The King. Now...he's Aeyron Archer, a heartbroken failure.