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 Rhaella Targaryen, by Bella Bergolts © | ||||
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| Titles | ||||
| Allegiance | House Targaryen | |||
| Culture | Crownlands | |||
| Born |
245–247 AC[1] King's Landing[2] | |||
| Died |
284 AC[1] Dragonstone[3] | |||
| Father | Jaehaerys II Targaryen | |||
| Mother | Shaera Targaryen | |||
| Spouse | King Aerys II Targaryen | |||
| Issue | ||||
| Books |
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Queen Rhaella Targaryen was the sister, wife, and queen of King Aerys II Targaryen and the only daughter of King Jaehaerys II Targaryen and his sister-wife, Queen Shaera Targaryen. Her grandfather was King Aegon V Targaryen. Rhaella was the mother of Prince Rhaegar, Prince Viserys, and Princess Daenerys. She died shortly after Daenerys' birth.[3]
Character
[edit]Rhaella was said to have always been mindful of her duty.[4]
History
[edit]Early life
[edit]Rhaella was born in either 245 AC, 246 AC or 247 AC[1] to Prince Jaehaerys and Princess Shaera Targaryen. She had an older brother, Aerys.[5] She grew up in the court of her grandfather, King Aegon V Targaryen.[2]
According to Ser Barristan Selmy, Rhaella had been in love with Ser Bonifer Hasty, a young landed knight[6] from the stormlands, during her youth. Bonifer once named her his queen of love and beauty. Their affair was a short one, however, as Bonifer was of too low birth to ever be seriously considered a suitor for Rhaella.[4]
Rhaella was married at a young age to her older brother,[5] Aerys, on the command of their father, Prince Jaehaerys.[4][7][8] Jaehaerys had been influenced by a woods witch brought to court by Jenny of Oldstones. The woods witch prophesied that the prince that was promised would be born from Aerys's and Rhaella's line,[7] making Jaehaerys determined to marry his daughter to his son. King Aegon V Targaryen, whilst frustrated with his son's decision, allowed Jaehaerys to do as he wished.[8] According to Barristan, there was no fondness between Aerys and Rhaella on the day of their wedding.[7]
As a princess, and eventual queen, Rhaella had multiple ladies in waiting. At some point, they included the mother of Prince Doran Martell, and, from 259 AC to 263 AC, Lady Joanna Lannister from Casterly Rock.[9][10]
as depicted by Marc Simonetti in The World of Ice & Fire.
Married life
[edit]In 259 AC, whilst present at Summerhall, Rhaella gave birth to the first of her children, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, whilst the tragedy of Summerhall raged.[8][11][12] During the tragedy, Rhaella's grandfather, King Aegon V Targaryen, died, leading to her own father, ascending the throne as Jaehaerys II Targaryen.[13] Following Jaehaerys's own death, in 262 AC, Rhaella's brother and husband ascended the throne as King Aerys II Targaryen, and Rhaella became queen.[10]
Following Rhaegar's birth, Rhaella and Aerys had trouble where childbirth was concerned. In the seventeen years following Rhaegar's birth, Rhaella went through multiple pregnancies, stillbirths and miscarriages:[10]
- miscarriage in 263 AC
- miscarriage in 264 AC
- Princess Shaena Targaryen, born in 267 AC, stillborn
- Prince Daeron Targaryen, born in 269 AC, lived only half a year
- stillbirth in 270 AC, gender and name of child unknown
- miscarriage in 271 AC
- Prince Aegon Targaryen, born in 272 AC, born two months premature, died in 273 AC
- Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen, born in 274 AC, died later that same year
While at first, her brother comforted Rhaella in her grief, the multiple stillbirths, miscarriages and dead children eventually caused Aerys to become suspicious. He accused her of having been unfaithful, and claimed that the dead children had been bastards. Rhaella was confined to Maegor's Holdfast (roughly around 270 AC), and Aerys decreed that two septas would sleep in Rhaella's bed every night, to ensure she would remain faithful. Despite Aerys's accusations against Rhaella, it was actually he who was unfaithful to her. The king kept many mistresses, both before and after 270 AC. Rhaella was willing to look the other way for most such indiscretions, but she greatly disapproved whenever her husband turned his eye towards her ladies. On multiple occasions, women were abruptly dismissed from her service following incidents with the king. Notably, Lady Joanna Lannister was dismissed shortly after Aerys[10] made suggestive comments[4] and took liberties with her person at Joanna's wedding to Tywin Lannister.[10]
The death of Prince Jaehaerys in 274 AC shifted Aerys' suspicions to others. He first blamed Jaehaerys's wet nurse, and had her beheaded in a black rage. He later became convinced that Jaehaerys had been poisoned by his mistress, and had the girl and her family tortured to death.[10] Aerys then fasted for a fortnight, made a walk of repentance across the city to the Great Sept of Baelor, and prayed with the High Septon. Upon his return, he declared that he would only sleep with Rhaella, his wife, from that day forth. As far as is known, Aerys remained true to this vow, no longer taking any mistress from 275 AC forth.[10]
In 276 AC, Rhaella gave birth to Prince Viserys. While he was small and robust, he was healthy. However, Aerys feared that Viserys would die like his brothers, and so tasked the Kingsguard to watch over the infant. Even Rhaella was forbidden to be alone with her son. Aerys insisted that his food taster suckle at the breasts of the wet nurse, to be certain that there was no poison on her nipples.[10] When Lord Tywin Lannister, Hand of the King, held a tournament in honor of Viserys's birth at Lannisport, Rhaella was ordered to remain at King's Landing with Viserys.[10] Following their cousin Steffon Baratheon's death at sea in 278 AC, Aerys's paranoia and madness deepened. No longer trusting his wife or elder son[14] and convinced they may be conspiring with the lords and smallfolk against him, Aerys recruited the eunuch Varys to act as his spymaster.[10] In 281 AC, during the tourney at Harrenhal, Rhaella again remained in the capital with Viserys.[15][16]
In the later years of the marriage of Aerys and Rhaella, the Mad King's insanity set in.[17] Never in love or even especially fond of each other,[7] she and Aerys grew even more distant because of his increasingly erratic and violent behavior. He would treat her with greater and greater cruelty as his madness deepened.[2] According to Ser Barristan Selmy, Rhaella did her best to protect Viserys from the worst of Aerys's excesses, keeping her child oblivious to the fact his father was sliding deeper into madness. Despite Rhaella's efforts, Selmy believed that Viserys showed signs of the same madness that afflicted his father.[18] According to Ser Jaime Lannister, Rhaella's eyes had been closed for years by the time Aerys ordered caches of wildfire be placed all over King's Landing.[17]
In the final years of Aerys' reign, relations between king and queen were strained. The couple slept apart and both did their best to avoid each other during the day. However, Aerys would inevitably seek her out every night after he executed someone by burning. He grew sexually abusive and violent toward Rhaella, aroused by the fire and death. The last time was during Robert's Rebellion after Aerys burned his then-Hand, Lord Qarlton Chelsted, for opposing the Mad King's wildfire plot. Jaime recalls listening outside Rhaella's bedchamber as she cried as the king raped her; when Jaime protested that the Kingsguard were sworn to defend the queen as well, his sworn brother Ser Jonothor Darry replied, "We are, but not from him."[19]
Evacuation to Dragonstone
[edit]
Soon after the burning of Lord Chelsted,[20] King's Landing was informed of the death of Rhaegar at the hands of Lord Robert Baratheon during the Battle of the Trident. Aerys evacuated Queen Rhaella, who was as yet unaware of her pregnancy,[3] and Prince Viserys to Dragonstone[17][3] along with the Red Keep's master-at-arms, Ser Willem Darry.[21] Ser Jaime Lannister remembers Rhaella traveling to her ship in the morning,[19] while Viserys speaks of a midnight flight to Dragonstone.[3] Rhaella was cloaked and hooded as she departed King's Landing[19] to hide the scratches and bruises inflicted by her husband.[2] According to Jaime, the queen's maids reported seeing clawing at Rhaella's thighs and chewing on her breasts the day of her escape, as if she'd been savaged by a beast.[19]
Rhaegar's family might have accompanied the queen, but Aerys believed their presence would keep Dorne loyal.[17] Remaining in the capital, they and Aerys were killed during the Sack of King's Landing. Dragonstone became the last haven of the remaining Targaryens.[3]
Pregnancy and Death
[edit]With Aerys, Rhaegar, and Rhaegar's son Aegon dead, Rhaella crowned Viserys at Dragonstone,[2] although the Great Houses instead recognized Robert I Baratheon as the new Lord of the Seven Kingdoms.
Rhaella spent the duration of her pregnancy on Dragonstone. Nine months after sailing from King's Landing, Rhaella gave birth to her only living daughter while a raging summer storm threatened to rip the island fastness apart.[3] She named her daughter Daenerys,[22] after the Daenerys Targaryen who once married the Prince of Dorne.[23] Rhaella died shortly thereafter from complications of childbirth.[3]
Prior to Stannis Baratheon's assault on Dragonstone, Willem Darry fled from Dragonstone with Rhaella's surviving children, Viserys and Daenerys Stormborn, for the Free Cities.[3] Later, with the exiled siblings living in poverty, Viserys sold Rhaella's crown to survive.[24]
Recent Events
[edit]A Game of Thrones
[edit]In Pentos, Daenerys thinks about her mother and brother's flight from King's Landing, her birth on Dragonstone, and her mother's death. According to Daenerys, Viserys never forgave her for Rhaella's death. She recalls when they were later forced to sell their mother's crown and that the coin received in exchange is now gone.[3]
An injured Eddard Stark dreams of his confrontation with the Kingsguard at the Tower of Joy. In the dream, he tells the knights he'd thought they might have sailed to Dragonstone with Willem Darry, Rhaella, and Viserys, but they insist that as Kingsguard they do not flee.[21]
At Vaes Dothrak, Daenerys tells Jorah Mormont that because her mother died birthing her, she only knows her and the rest of her family's names thanks to Viserys.[25]
A Clash of Kings
[edit]Deep in the Red Waste with her khalasar, Daenerys fears for the lives of her dragons. Thinking of her mother's death in childbirth and all the others the gods have taken from her, she resolves that they will not have her dragons too.[26]
Daenerys receives a vast array of gifts in Qarth, all of which she sells, except for a crown. When Xaro Xhoan Daxos urges she sell it too, Daenerys declines, telling him that Viserys sold their mother's crown and was called a beggar, so she will keep hers and be called a queen.[24]
A Storm of Swords
[edit]Daenerys asks former Kingsguard Barristan Selmy, who is still claiming to be the squire "Arstan Whitebeard," to tell her about her brother Rhaegar. According to Selmy, Rhaegar learned to read so early that men would jest that Queen Rhaella must have swallowed books and candle while he was still in the womb.[27]
Kraznys mo Nakloz tells Daenerys that her crown could buy her a century of Unsullied slave soldiers. Daenerys refuses, remembering how, after Viserys sold Rhaella's crown, the last of his joy went from him and only rage remained.[28]
In the baths at Harrenhal, Jaime Lannister tells Brienne of Tarth about the last days of Aerys II's reign and how the king ordered caches and wildfire placed throughout King's Landing in complete secrecy. Although the queen's eyes had been closed for years, the Hand of the King, Lord Qarlton Chelsted, soon became suspicious. Jaime goes on to speak of how, after word of Prince Rhaegar's death at the Trident reached the city, Aerys sent Rhaella and Viserys away to Dragonstone.[17]
Still at Harrenhal, Jaime remembers how he was invested into the Kingsguard at the great tourney at Harrenhal, but, instead of being allowed to compete, King Aerys sent him back to King's Landing to guard Queen Rhaella and Prince Viserys.[15]
Ahead of his trial by combat for the murder of Joffrey Baratheon, Tyrion Lannister speaks with his champion, Oberyn Martell. Oberyn asks him if he was aware that their mothers, Princess of Dorne and Joanna Lannister, once knew each other. Tyrion recalls they were at court together in their youth as companions to Rhaella when she was still a princess.[9]
After Barristan Selmy's true identity is revealed, he asks Daenerys if she has questions for him, as one once so close to her father. Daenerys asks if her father was truly mad, because Viserys had told her the claims of madness were merely lies by the usurper. Selmy explains that Rhaella sheltered Viserys from their father's madness as much as she could.[18]
A Feast for Crows
[edit]Watching Cersei Lannister, Jaime is reminded of how a burning would arouse Aerys. He thinks of how Aerys raped Rhaella the night after he had Lord Chelsted burned as he and Jonothor Darry stood guard outside. Though Jaime had wanted to intervene, sworn to protect queen as well as king, Darry told him they were not to protect her from him. Jaime only saw Rhaella one more time, the morning of the day she left for Dragonstone. She was cloaked and hooded as she entered the wheelhouse that brought her down to the ship, but he heard maids whisper about her injuries from her husband's assault.[19]
A Dance with Dragons
[edit]
Varys tells Tyrion that Aerys recruited him to serve as his spymaster because he no longer trusted his wife, his son, or his Hand.[14]
While considering the marriage suit of Hizdahr zo Loraq, Daenerys asks Barristan Selmy if her brother wed for love or duty. Selmy goes on to tell her that he attended the wedding between Daenerys's parents, but there was no fondness between then, which the realm paid dearly for. When Daenerys wonders why they would have wed if not for love, Selmy reveals that her grandfather Jaehaerys commanded it on the word of a woods witch who claimed that the the prince that was promised would be born from their line.[7]
Jon Connington, once Hand of the King to Aerys, thinks back on his defeat in the Battle of the Bells during Robert's Rebellion. Though most believe it was Rhaegar's death at the Trident that spelled doom for their house, Connington believes it was his loss at Stoney Sept that was the turning point for Aerys, his queen, and the rest.[29]
Soon before her wedding to Hizdahr, Daenerys asks Barristan Selmy who her parents might have wed if free to choose for themselves. Barristan tells her that Rhaella was once smitten with a young knight from the stormlands who wore her favor in a tourney and named her queen of love and beauty. The love lasted only briefly, and the knight put away his lance and devoted himself to the Faith when Rhaella wed Aerys, declaring that only the Maiden could replace her in his heart. The passion was between them impossible because a landed knight was not fit to be consort to a princess. Daenerys thinks of her own relationship with the sellsword Daario Naharis and that he is of much lower status than even a landed knight.[4]
Barristan Selmy remembers the tourney at Harrenhal and regrets his loss to Rhaegar in the final tilt, ceding the right to name a queen of love and beauty to the prince. He laments that Rhaegar crowned Lyanna Stark as queen of love and beauty, setting in motion the turmoil that would follow. Selmy thinks that he would have made a different choice—not Rhaegar's wife Elia Martell or his mother the queen, who was not in attendance, but Lady Ashara Dayne.[30]
Quotes by Rhaella
[edit]You're hurting me. You're hurting me.[19]
—Rhaella to Aerys II Targaryen
Quotes about Rhaella
[edit]—Daenerys Targaryen's thoughts
—Jaime Lannister's thoughts
The queen your mother was always mindful of her duty.[4]
Family
[edit]
Notes
[edit]- ↑ Rhaella is not explicitly referred to as Dowager Queen in the text. However, A Game of Thrones establishes that Aerys II predeceased her in Daenerys's first chapter, making her a Dowager Queen, as the title refers to widows of deceased kings.
References
[edit]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 See the Rhaella Targaryen calculation.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Rhaella Targaryen.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 3, Daenerys I.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 43, Daenerys VII.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 The World of Ice & Fire, Appendix: Targaryen Lineage.
- ↑ George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Bonifer Hasty.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 23, Daenerys IV.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Aegon V.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 70, Tyrion X.
- ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Aerys II.
- ↑ George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Rhaegar Targaryen.
- ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 35, Samwell IV.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Targaryen Kings: Jaehaerys II.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 5, Tyrion II.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 44, Jaime VI.
- ↑ The World of Ice & Fire, The Fall of the Dragons: The Year of the False Spring.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 37, Jaime V.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 71, Daenerys VI.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 19.6 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 16, Jaime II.
- ↑ George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Aerys II Targaryen.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 39, Eddard X.
- ↑ So Spake Martin: Numerous Questions (February 28, 2002)
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 15, Davos II.
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 40, Daenerys III.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 46, Daenerys V.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 12, Daenerys I.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 8, Daenerys I.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 27, Daenerys III.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 24, The Lost Lord.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 67, The Kingbreaker.