They had to make her son and family incompetent to give her a handicap, else she'll be unstoppable lol
I feel like Astana IS smart. However, Lavini has been controlling every aspect of his life since infancy. So, when he did start to form his opinions, he rebelled by not doing what his mother wants which hindered his progress.
definitely! i believe he had potential to be a real threat to perez as both parents are scheming and ruthless, but she really dug her own grave by grooming him as a ruthless yet proud fool. how they both end up just perfectly sums up her control over his life was what sealed their fate.
The Thrawn Effect lol
And yeah Astana was made to be incompetent because she wanted power for herself and a fully adult and competent son would take that away from her. The Empress is a very well written villain for a palace drama.
She wanted her son to be stupid so it will be easy to control him , she wanted a puppet not a great emperor
It would be nice if Astana was also smart and strong as Perez. It would be a one heck of a fight for the throne. This feels like Empress against the world (having a greedy husband and a stupid son would surely cause her downfall even without the help of Lombardi). I really do love her character as a villain, you don't get to see that on every story. It is usually like Astana a brain damage and cocky villain.