Rhaegar Targaryen

Prince Rhaegar Targaryen is one of the overarching protagonists of the novel series and its television adaptation . He was the Crown Prince of the Seven Kingdoms, the eldest son of King Aerys II and Queen Rhaella Targaryen; the elder brother of Prince Viserys and Princess Daenerys Targaryen, and the father of Rhaenys Targaryen, Aegon Targaryen and Jon Snow. He was slain at the Trident by his cousin Lord Robert Baratheon.
In the TV series, he was portrayed by Wilf Scolding.
==Personality and Appearance==
Prince Rhaegar was tall and handsome, having dark lilac eyes and the silver hair of the Targaryens, worn long. He had the iron tones of a Prince. Many say that Rhaegar was beautiful, some people like Cersei Lannister viewed Rhaegar as the most beautiful man she's even seen. Rhaegar was exceedingly intelligent and excelled at anything he put his mind to. He was considered to be a talented musician and, despite having a dislike for fighting, was a skilled knight. He was well loved by the smallfolk and some lords alike. While well-loved by the people, Rhaegar was said to be quiet, private and bookish. He was deeply affected by "the shadow of Summerhall", because he was "born in grief" and was considered melancholic at times. He seems to know of "the prince that was promised' and the mysterious prophecy called, "the song of ice and fire" which the book series is named after. 
While King Robert I Baratheon despises him due to his supposed abduction of his betrothed Lyanna, many think of Rhaegar with respect, especially Targaryen loyalists. Ser Jaime Lannister still remembers the iron tones of Rhaegar’s voice and thinks he would have made a good king. Ser Barristan Selmy, who served three kings, recalls that Rhaegar would have been better then all three combined. His sister, Daenerys Targaryen, is often compared to Rhaegar as a compliment. Eddard Stark, Robert's friend and Lyanna's brother, remembers Rhaegar in a neutral manner. People who had romantic feelings toward Rhaegar include Cersei Lannister and Jon Connington (and possibly Lyanna Stark).
==Biography==
=== Early Life ===
Rhaegar Targaryen was born in 259 AC during the Tragedy at Summerhall, in which a great fire broke out in House Targaryen's pleasure castle of Summerhall, which resulted in the deaths of King Aegon V Targaryen, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Ser Duncan the Tall, and many others. In his childhood, Rhaegar was bookish, which made him the target of jests. Though he never wanted to become a warrior, as he never had any martial habits, Rhaegar changes his mind, due to something he had read, which motivated him into becoming a mighty warrior. He eventually became a knight at seventeen years old and was reported that he grew into a skilled warrior. During tourneys, Rhaegar would always distinguish himself from others, even though he doesn't want to enter the lists. He doesn't appear to enjoy combat, unlike Robert Baratheon and Jaime Lannister.
Rhaegar, thanks to his charisma, is known to have close relationships/friendships with many such as his two squires Myles Mooton and Richard Lonmouth, whom are knighted by the latter. Jon Connington, the son of Lord Armond Connington, was also a close friend to Rhaegar, as the prince served as his squire. Rhaegar had visited the tallest tower of the castle of Griffin's Roost following a trip to Dorne, and his beautiful songs brought tears to the women in the castle. Rhaegar's closest friend, however, was Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, whom Rhaegar trusted more than Ser Barristan Selmy.
He likes to visit the ruins of Summerhall, due to having a complex fascination with the castle and believing himself to be the legendary and prophesied Prince that was Promised, due to being born "amidst smoke and salt", which was in accordance with the prophecy. Having remembered the tragedy that had occured at Summerhall, Rhaegar was both the happiest and saddest with this event. When he returned, he would sing songs of such beauty that left women in tears. Though Rhaegar was noted for being gloomy, bookish, and private, Cersei Lannister noted that at a tourney in Lannisport to honor the birth of Prince Viserys, the smallfolk cheered half as loudly for Rhaegar they cheered twice for Lord Tywin Lannister as much as for King Aerys. 
During the tourney, Rhaegar bested a dozen knights, including Ser Barristan Selmy, Gerion and Tygett Lannister, but was eventually defeated by Ser Arthur Dayne during the champion's tilt. When Tywin offered to betroth his daughter Cersei to Rhaegar, the Mad King, in his paranoia and jealousy, refused, which left Cersei heartbroken while the Mad King's relationship with Tywin deteriorated further. During the tourney at Storm's End, Rhaegar was noted by Ser Barristan as having rode brilliantly, in which he defeated Lord Steffon Baratheon, Lord Jason Mallister, Prince Oberyn Martell, a mystery knight, who is actually Simon Toyne, the leader of the infamous Kingswood Brotherhood, and finally Arthur Dayne, after breaking a dozen lances. Rhaegar, however, was defeated by Barristan Selmy in the end, and the latter was named champion.
=== Marriage to Elia Martell ===
Since the Targaryens had severely declined, there is no other sibling or anyone else of Rhaegar bloodline that is available for him to marry, so to try and rectify the matter, his father sent Lord Steffon Baratheon, who is King Aerys' first cousin, to seek a bride for Rhaegar. Unfortunately, Steffon failed to find any appropriate women who are enough of noble-birth for the prince to marry, despite the fact that there is Valyrian blood in Essos. This search for a worthy bride for the prince would tragically lead to Steffon's death alongside his wife Lady Cassana Estermont, when their ship got caught in a raging storm, which caused it to smash into rocks before sinking.
Eventually in 279 AC, Rhaegar was betrothed to Dornish Princess Elia Martell, the sister of Doran Martell, the ruling prince of Dorne. The two married a year later in 280 AC in a luxurious wedding ceremony in the Great Sept of Baelor. However, the Mad King did not attend the wedding, due to his insanity and worsening paranoia, and he also forbade the young Prince Viserys from attending.
=== Birth of Rhaegar's children ===
Because of his strained relationship with his father, Rhaegar took up residence on the island of Dragonstone with Elia, where their first child, a daughter whom they named Rhaenys, was born. When they returned to King's Landing and presented their baby daughter at court, Rhaegar's mother, Queen Rhaella Targaryen, warmly embraced her grandchild, though King Aerys rudely remarked that Rhaenys "smells Dornish". The Mad King's relationship with Rhaegar became ever more strained than ever overtime. Rhaegar and Elia then gave birth to a son, whom they named Aegon, much, much later, but this caused Elia to be bedridden for half a year, due to her fragile health, and she almost died. After his son's birth, Rhaegar was told by the maesters that his wife is unable to have more children. The prince corresponded raven messages with his great-great uncle Maester Aemon (formerly Prince Aemon Targaryen). Aemon remembered that Rhaegar believed that Prince Aegon is the prophesied Prince that was Promised.
=== Tensions at court ===
After Tywin Lannister resigned as Hand of the King after his son and heir Jaime Lannister was named to the Kingsguard, the Mad King now directed his paranoia and mistrust towards Rhaegar. This caused tensions at court to intensify, as members of the court became divided between factions loyal to King Aerys and Prince Rhaegar. Grand Maester Pycelle wrote to the citadel that the tensions and division at court strongly resembled those prior to the Dance of the Dragons, and feared that a civil war will break out unless some accord can be reached out to satisfy both factions.
== Later Life ==
=== Tourney at Harrenhal ===
When Lord Walter Whent announced that a great tourney will take place at the ruined castle of Harrenhal in the Riverlands, many believed that House Whent did it just to display their wealth and splendor, while some believed that the family is being supported by a "shadow host", as they lacked the funds to afford the prizes/rewards for the tourney, which are three times greater than what was offered by Lord Tywin Lannister during the tourney that honors Prince Viserys' birth. It is believed, and also by Varys, the Master of Whisperers, that the shadow host is none other than Rhaegar Targaryen himself, who financed and arranged the tourney in secrecy so that he could meet up with the lords of the Great Houses to discuss an arranging council as well as the removal his father from the iron throne. This possibility is what made King Aerys decide to attend the tourney and his declining presence shocked all within the castle.
During a great feast that night to mark the beginning of the tourney, Rhaegar sang a sad and beautiful song that caused Lyanna Stark, the daughter of Lord Rickon Stark, to start crying. When her brother Benjen teased her for it she retaliated by pouring a cup of wine over his head. During the ten-day tourney, Rhaegar became champion as he seems to be unstoppable, having defeated four knights of the Kingsguard. After winning the tourney, he shocked everyone present by naming Lyanna Stark his Queen of Love and Beauty, in which he used his lance to place a laurel of blue winter roses on her lap. This proved to be both controversial and scandalous as Lyanna is already betrothed, in which she was going to marry Lord Robert Baratheon. Seeing Rhaegar's action as an insult upon his sister's honor, Brandon Stark, Lyanna's eldest brother, attempted to confront Rhaegar only to be restrained by the Kingsguard.
Robert Baratheon's further reaction to Rhaegar naming his betrothed queen of love and beauty is of much dispute; some believed that Robert laughed at this, claiming that the prince had only payed Lyanna her due, however, those who are closer to Robert, claimed that the latter brooded over the insult and eventually became bitter and resentful, causing him to harden towards Rhaegar.
=== Abduction of Lyanna Stark ===
Ten leagues away from Harrenhal, Rhaegar seemingly abducted Lyanna Stark for reasons unknown. According to a semi-canon source, the prince was aided in the kidnapping by two of the Kingsguard, Arthur Dayne and Oswell Whent. This had a strong negative effect on House Targaryen which would lead to their downfall and the eventual end of their dynasty; When Brandon learned that his sister had disappeared, he rode to King's Landing with several of his companions. In the Red Keep, when he demanded Rhaegar that he "come out and die", the prince wasn't present, to Brandon's misfortune, and Brandon and his companions were arrested by King Aerys for plotting to kill his heir. 
Brandon's father Lord Rickon Stark and the fathers of Brandon's companions were then arrested as well. Brandon and Rickon were then brutally executed by the Mad King, in which Rickon was burned to death by Wildfire while his son choked himself to death on a cord as he desperately tried to rescue his father. Afterwards, King Aerys sent word to the Eyrie, demanding Lord Jon Arryn to deliver him the heads of his wards/foster sons, Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark. Jon refused this demand and he instead raised his banners in rebellion and he is soon followed by Robert and Ned, ultimately instigating a rebellion that would consequently lead to House Targaryen's downfall and the end of their dynasty. 
==Death==
=== Robert's Rebellion ===
Rhaegar remained absent throughout most of Robert's Rebellion. After the Targaryen loyalist army was defeated in the Battle of the Bells, King Aerys sent Ser Gerold Hightower, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard to find Rhaegar. The prince was then found at a tower with Lyanna Stark in the Red Mountains of Dorne. After commanding Ser Gerold, Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Oswell Whent to stay and guard Lyanna, Rhaegar returns to the Crownlands to take command of the Loyalist Army. 
As Prince Doran Martell, the ruling Prince of Dorne, was slow to lend aid to the Targaryens, as he was furious that Rhaegar had spurned Elia Martell, King Aerys responded by gracelessly reminding him that he is holding Princess Elia and her children hostage. Doran agrees to send 10,000 Dornishmen for the royal army, and the Mad King dispatches Prince Lewyn Martell of the Kingsguard to lead the contingent. 
Aided by Lewyn and Ser Barristan Selmy, who is also of the Kingsguard, Rhaegar met the Rebel Army at a ford of the Trident. Engaging in a climatic battle with Lord Robert Baratheon, Prince Rhaegar, despite wounding his opponent, was ultimately slain when Robert struck him in the chest with his war hammer. The strike also caused the rubies encrusted in Rhaegar's armor to be scattered in the ford. With his dying breath, Rhaegar says Lyanna Stark's name before succumbing to his wounds. As he lay dead in the Trident, soldiers from both the rebel and loyalist army scrabbled in the river to search for the rubies. Rhaegar's death became a blow to the loyalist army, who broke and fled. 
== Legacy ==
The circumstances of Rhaegar's taking of Lyanna Stark remain unknown, in addition to Lyanna's reaction to it. House Stark, Brandon Stark in particular, saw it as an abduction while Robert Baratheon imagined Rhaegar raping Lyanna a hundred times while keeping her captive. However, the Targaryen tradition sees Rhaegar acting out of true love for Lyanna. By the time Lyanna was found by her brother, Eddard, she died soon after Eddard's arrival, however, prior to her death, she made her brother make a promise, the content of which remains unknown, as Ned apparently never shared Lyanna's secret with anyone.
What all sides seem to agree upon is that the meeting of Rhaegar and Lyanna was fateful as it led to immense bloodshed. This leads to imaginations of an alternate history, in which Rhaegar never becomes infatuated with Lyanna. Rhaegar's youngest brother Prince Viserys, blamed his sister Daenerys once for their family's downfall all because she was not born earlier, as Rhaegar could then have married her and might have never become interested in Lyanna. Daenerys retorted by outwitting him, saying that by the same logic, it was also Viserys' fault for not being born a girl, much to her brother's anger.
Ser Kevan Lannister, the younger brother of Tywin Lannister, imagines that, had the Mad King accepted Lord Tywin Lannister's proposal of marrying Cersei to Rhaegar, the Dragon Prince might have never looked twice at Lyanna. After his death Rhaegar was cremated, as it is traditional for fallen Targaryens.
Many in Westeros remember Rhaegar with respect, as they considered him a good man, even though he was controversial during his lifetime. Jaime Lannister remembered Rhaegar's voice and believed that he would have been a good king. Ser Barristan Selmy, who served three Targaryen kings, recalled that Rhaegar surpassed them all. His sister, Daenerys Targaryen, is often said to resemble him while her brother, Viserys, who idolized Rhaegar, called him a great killer. It could also be said that Rhaegar and Viserys looked identical, but Rhaegar was taller and more beautiful.
Though he was loved and respected by many, the prince is not fondly remembered by some, most notably Robert Baratheon (as aforementioned) and House Martell of Dorne; Robert, ever his victory at the Trident and his rise to power, continued to vilify Rhaegar over his apparent abduction of Lyanna, desiring more vengeance against the prince. He even claimed that he killed Rhaegar every night in his dreams, though this didn't satisfy his vendetta. House Martell, particularly Prince Doran Martell, clearly despised Rhaegar, as they were furious by the fact that he had humiliated and spurned his wife Elia before leaving her. 
==Post Mortem Impact ==
Even after his Death, Prince Rhaegar still got a strong impact in the lives of others.
# It is evident that both Viserys and Daenerys feel a strong admiration for their late brother.
# Prince Viserys modeled his looks after Rhaegar and would fantasize himself as a mighty warrior like his brother while usually toying around with a borrowed sword, as Daenerys notes that Viserys was never trained for combat.
#Ser Barristan Selmy looks for Daenerys because he believes that it is a way to repay to House Targaryen in the name of the late Rhaegar.
#Cersei Lannister, even though she was happy with her marriage to King Robert I Baratheon, she never forgave him for killing Rhaegar.
# While Imprisioned underneath the Great Sept of Baelor, Cersei often thought of what her life would have been with Rhaegar.
#Most of the actions of Daenerys while ruling are based on the thoughts "What would Rhaegar do?".
==R+L=J theory==
Ever since A Game of Thrones was released, several hints suggested that Jon Snow, the supposed bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark, was really the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Fans nicknamed the theory R+L=J, short for Rhaegar+Lyanna = Jon. Hints included that Ned Stark gave incoherent and indeed contradicting accounts of who Jon's mother was (claiming it was the Dornish maid of House Dayne, named Wylla), indicating that he was lying about something, and also the conspicuous fact that Lyanna died shortly before Ned returned to the North with the infant Jon Snow: hinting that Lyanna died during childbirth. There were also many hints (still unconfirmed) that Lyanna didn't actually love Robert Baratheon and she ran off with Rhaegar - particularly that everyone except for Robert himself describes Rhaegar as a chivalrous, intellectual, and kind man who didn't seem the sort to randomly rape the daughter of a major noble house. Another major theory was that Rhaegar had the three greatest members of the Kingsguard (two in the TV version) sit out the entire war, purely to guard Lyanna at the Tower of Joy.
This theory remained unconfirmed in the books for a long time. However in the seventh season of the TV Show's version of the story, Bran Stark, using his greenseer abilities, has a vision of the past where Ned found Lyanna dying in bed in the Tower of Joy with a newborn baby boy. George R.R. Martin himself has never confirmed this theory, contrary to popular belief and there is little textual evidence that supports R + L = J. Throughout the book, Jon has no Dragon dreams, no Targaryen or Dragon imagery nor symbolism and the only time Jon even mentions Dragons is discussing how a certain dwarf tells him of his own Dragon dreams. Therefore this theory is confirmed only in the show and is not canon.
Jon Snow's rights have been likely simplified in the TV series in order to favor Jon as a more legitimate heir for House Targaryen. In the books, marriage and inheritance are far more complex. Also, the TV version of Rhaegar is made more negative by having him annulling his marriage with his previous wife, Elia Martell, thus openly insulting her, his own children and heirs born before Jon and House Martell. In the books, divorce does not exist, because marriage vows are considered holy.
==External Links==
*Rhaegar Targaryen on the Villains Wiki.
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