Part 2 - RHAEGAR & LYANNA

Welcome to part 2! Yesterday I talked about the life of Rhaegar Targaryan. Today we're going to discuss the details of his life that had a major impact on the future of Westeros. Let's start with the people's perception of Rhaegar.

Everything that I have found during my research, points to Rhaegar being a good man with a messed up crazy dad in Aerys II aka The Mad King. He behaved honorably throughout his life, made some great friends that were loyal to him even after his death, and seemed to honestly care for his wife and children.

But there is one side of Rhaegar that isn't talked about too much. He was often described as a quiet guy, contemplative keeping his thoughts to himself mostly. Well, as it turns out, a lot of his thoughts were focused on his own ties to The Prince That Was Promised (PtwP) prophecy.

pic is of Daenarys, I know, but she's really the PtwP, keep reading

During his younger years, Rhaegar discovered this prophecy and put the clues together himself. He became so convinced that he was whom the prophecy spoke of that he dropped everything he was doing to start training to be a warrior. These are the clues that led him to that decision:

1. The birth of a Prince. At the time, Rhaegar took this literally, we later found out that Old Valyrian is a gender-neutral language, so 'PRINCE" could mean male or female. Master Aemon's last words were about how they were all wrong about the prophecy and that it wasn't a son they were looking for, but a daughter.

2. The prince is of the blood of the dragon. Meaning that he or she is born a Targaryan. The Maesters further concluded that the PtwP would be a descendant of Aerys II, so as Aerys' first born son (and only child at the time) it was natural for him to think it might be himself.

3. Born amidst salt and smoke. - Rhaegar's birth at Summerhall was during a great fire that burned down the whole castle killing many people. The salt would be from the tears people shed for their lost family and friends.

4. Born under a bleeding star. - A red comet appeared the day Rhaegar was born.

5. Dragons shall be released from stone. - I don't know what he thought this meant for him, but it could be translated in a number of ways. Maybe he believed that this just meant the return of dragons, which was something that was talked about for many years before Rhaegar was even born. There are also a butt load of stone dragons at Dragonstone, so he might of thought of those stone dragons literally coming to life.

6. The "dark eye" falls upon the prince. This just means that a bunch of people of some power or authority would be against the PtwP. At the time, Rhaegar was a boy, but both his father would prove to be a problem for him, as well as the armies of Baratheons, Starks, Arryns, and Tullys. I'd say that's a lot of dark eyes looking at him.

As he grew older and more wise, he realized the prophecy might not be about him specifically, but his children. When his wife Elia gave birth to their second child Aegon, and Rhaegar held him for the first time, he was asked, "Will you write a song for him?" He replied, "There is already a song for him. He is the Prince that was promised. His is the song of ice and fire." Daenarys sees this happen in one of her visions when she is in the House of the Undying (A Clash of Kings/Season 2), and Rhaegar's eyes seem to meet hers as he says, "the dragon has three heads. There must be one more."

My point here is, that Rhaegar was really into this prophecy. It is quite possible that he was obsessed with it and maybe even getting crazy about it. After his son Aegon is born, his wife Elia is unable to have anymore children due to the complications of the birth. It's possible Rhaegar might have snapped over this, remembered Lyanna Stark from the tournament of Harrenhall and decided to just go for it, no matter what the cost; because he truly believed in the prophecy, so his actions would be worth it in the long run, if the prophecy was true.

So...was Robert Baratheon right? Was Rhaegar as mad as his father? Did he kidnap and rape Lyanna like many in Westeros were led to believe?

I don't think so and I'll tell you why.

As quiet and contemplative as Rhaegar was, there were far too many people that spoke quite highly of him. Even Ned Stark, who had the most reason to hate this guy, only spoke honorably of Rhaegar and even seemed to admire him a bit. Why would he do that? Well, we now know Ned's promise that he made to Lyanna on her death bed, so it's VERY possible Ned kept another secret about Rhaegar and Lyanna. Ned and Lyanna were very close and it's safe to assume that they shared secrets with each other more than that one time. Plus, we all know Ned to be nothing but honorable (it's what killed him for crying out loud!), so of course he would want to keep Lyanna's affair with a man that was not her betrothed a secret. If not for her honor but for the entire Stark family.

Let's take a closer look at Lyanna now.

Lyanna Stark is a terrific character. She's the third born Stark, and only girl. She was often described as a tom boy growing up, with a bit of a wild streak. Ned would often say how much Arya reminded him of Lyanna, not only in looks but in personality. Lyanna was a highly skilled rider, and it was one of her favorite things to do. But she also knew how to fight. It's not uncommon for Northern women to know how to fight, but she was the daughter of the Lord of Winterfell; so most looked to her to be a "lady" much like Sansa was and wanted to be when we first met her.

Lyanna was the kind of girl that, much like Arya, was more interested in swordplay and dueling with her brothers instead of learning how to sew or whatever else the women of Westeros were expected to know. It's mentioned several times just how good of a rider she is. There's also mention of a incident with one of her brothers in the Godswood of Winterfell, where they had a mock duel and she beat him by slashing his leg and pushing him into one of the hot springs. She helped him out, because she was a good sister, but also to keep him from ratting her out to her father. My point is that Lyanna was in constant rebellion of the life she was meant to lead. She still honored tradition of the realm and her family, but she didn't do it quietly.

Then came the tournament of Harrenhall and the shenanigans that happened there. I talked about it briefly in part 1, but I only mentioned that Rhaegar won the tournament and named Lyanna the Queen of Love & Beauty and what happened because of that. So why did Rhaegar do that? Did he just see her in the crowd and decide to insult his own wife (who was also there) in front of his father the King? I think they met earlier than that. Where and how you ask? Well for that explanation then I have to talk about something else that happened at the tournament: The Mysterious Knight of the Laughing Tree.

Here's how the story goes. A young Howland Reed, Lord of Greywater Watch (but before he was the lord) came to Harrenhall for the tournament and was attacked and beaten up by three squires. During the fight, Lyanna Stark appeared and rescued Howland Reed by chasing them off with a tourney sword and saying, "He is one of my father's men!" Meaning that the Reeds were bannermen to House Stark. Lyanna tended to Reed's wounds and insisted on him joining them for that evening's feast.

At the feast, Lyanna introduced Howland to her brothers Brandon, Eddard, and Benjen and pointed out the squires that attacked him. The boys offered Howland a sword and a horse to get his revenge, but he refused because Reed was not a very skilled rider nor swordsmen and didn't believe he could actually win.

The next day (tournament day 2) a mystery knight appeared. He was described as being "short of stature", with "mismatched armor, bits and pieces that appeared ill-fitting...",and  "carried a shield blazoned with the image of a 'white weirwood with a red laughing face'".

The knight challenged and defeated the knight's of the 3 squires that attacked Howland Reed the day before, winning custody over their horses and armor. Afterward, when the knights came to ransom for their stuff back, the mystery knight declared his terms in a "booming voice" through his helm that the knights "ought to teach their rude squires honor." Which they did, harshly.

King Aerys, in his paranoia, believed the mystery knight to be an enemy of his and so ordered his son Rhaegar to find out the identity of the knight. By morning of the next day the Knight of the Laughing Tree was gone.

So who was it? Clues point to several people including Howland Reed, Brandon Stark, Ned Stark, Benjen Stark, and Lyanna Stark. And I'm guessing that after you read that story then you're thinking what I'm thinking. "Dude, it's totally Lyanna!"

I was going to break down the clues, but we don't need to. It's pretty clear, but I will add this: George RR Martin LOVES to write strong female characters, especially characters that don't appear strong at first but their true strength of character emerges in the face of adversity. Biggest example is Daenarys Targaryan obviously, but there's also Sansa and Arya, as well as Lyanna Mormont, Maege Mormont, Asha (or Yara in the show) Greyjoy, and even Cersei. So of course Lyanna fits the profile of this mystery knight who showed up to kick ass and prove a point. The point she proved was mostly to herself; that she could actually hold her own against knighted men.

So, if we are to believe that Lyanna was the mystery Knight of the Laughing Tree, then it's also possible that Rhaegar was able to figure out her identity and even confronted her about it. I think Rhaegar was so impressed with her that he fell for her right then and there. Lyanna, on the other hand, found herself face to face with fucking Prince Charming! She sees him for the first time the night before, and hears him play his harp. The story mentions that she openly weeps as she listens to him play. While her brothers and the men surrounding her might not be surprised to see another woman weep over Rhaegar, I (as a reader), was a bit surprised.

Here was a woman who tried very hard to be just like her brothers, who wanted to be looked at as an equal to them in every way. So yes, I was surprised to read that she would cry openly in public like this. I believe that this is because Rhaegar actually made her feel like a woman. He made her feel things that she didn't before. Lyanna was already betrothed to Robert Baratheon at this point, but that didn't mean she felt for Robert what she felt for Rhaegar. At one point in their lives Ned is talking up Robert to Lyanna, because they were such good friends and Ned wanted his sister (whom he loved so so much) to be happy about her future husband. Lyanna replied simply, "Love is a wonderful thing, Ned. But love cannot change a man." Meaning, she knew that no matter how much Robert may love her, it would never change who he was. And Robert could be a real asshole.

I believe that when Lyanna and Rhaegar met face to face for the first time, sparks flew and explosions happened in their downstairs parts. Rhaegar was moved by Lyanna's strength, beauty, personality, feroicity; and Lyanna was struck by Rhaegar's kind spirit, stunning good looks, and superior harp playing skills. Not to mention he was beating the shit out of every knight he faced in the tournament AND was a prince!

So it is quite possible, in fact, it's PROBABLE that Rhaegar didn't steal Lyanna away at all, but kept in touch with her secretly and they BOTH agreed to run away together. Where did they go? Well, they probably travelled to somewhere quiet, but close to the Riverlands (but also probably beyond the Riverlands, like the Stormlands maybe) someplace that Rhaegar loved. I'm guessing they were married near Summerhall. The Targaryans were known for taking multiple wives, so it's not crazy to think that this happened. Besides, knowing how strongly Rhaegar believed in the PtwP prophecy, he would probably want a legitimate child born to him. Rhaegar was just a little too quick to name his first son, Aegon, the song of ice and fire. It's also possible that Rhaegar made the connection that his son with Lyanna was actually the song of ice and fire, but we'll most likely never know because he and Lyanna die before actually meeting their son Jon.

So to conclude my thoughts, Rhaegar seemed to be pretty close to hitting the nail on the head as far as the PtwP prophecy goes. He was wrong about himself being the Prince, or his son Aegon, and he never met Dany or heard of what happened with her. But he and the maesters were right about the PtwP being a descendant of King Aerys II. I still think the PtwP and the reborn Azor Ahai are two different people and those prophescies refer to Daenarys (the PtwP) and Jon (Azor Ahai) seperatley. But again, it could all just be coinicidence too. You always have to remember GRRM's own words, "Don't put too much stock in prophecy. Prophecies are words, and words are wind."

Hot damn, I really do love this shit! Hahaha! I love George RR Martin's writing style so much! I love the redemption theme that runs through these books constantly. I love the whole idea that people who are looked at as "low born" or as "bastards" are actually the strongest of them all.

So that's it for today. This was a really fun post for me. I hope #GoTMondays are filling the void left after season 6 ended as much for you as they are for me. I think in a few weeks that I will start watching the series from the beginning again, like I do every year. This time I'll blog about the episodes as I go though. So stay tuned for that! I'll be back tomorrow with more super hero and comic book related stuff and I'm going to see an advanced screening of Suicide Squad on Thursday, so I'll have something about those guys either tomorrow or Thursday. Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow!