Rhaegar Targaryen

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Rhaegar Targaryen
House Targaryen crest.PNG
MiguelRegodónHarkness Rhaegar Targaryen.jpg
Rhaegar Targaryen © 2012 Miguel Regodón Harkness

Aliases
  • Silver Prince
  • The Dragon Prince
  • The Last Dragon
Titles
  • Prince of Dragonstone
  • Ser
Allegiance House Targaryen
Culture Valyrian
Born 259 AC
Summerhall
Died 283 AC
Trident
Spouse Elia Martell
Books
Marriage to princess Elia Martell of Dorne

Prince Rhaegar Targaryen was the eldest son of Aerys II and, as heir-apparent, Prince of Dragonstone. Rhaegar was popular with the smallfolk during his life, but he died in Robert's Rebellion which was triggered in part by his alleged abduction of Lyanna Stark. He was slain in single combat with Robert at the Ruby Ford of the Trident. Because of these events Robert despises him, yet Rhaegar is remembered as a tragic heroic figure by Targaryen loyalists and Rebels alike, with even Robert's right hand & Lyanna's brother Eddard Stark remembering him in a positive light.[1]

Appearance & Character

See also: this collection of images

Prince Rhaegar was tall and handsome, he had dark lilac eyes and the silver hair of the Targaryens. Many say that Prince Rhaegar was beautiful.[2]

Rhaegar was exceedingly intelligent and excelled at anything he put his mind to. He was considered to be a talented musician and skilled knight. 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.

Many think of Rhaegar with respect. Ser Jaime Lannister still remembers the iron tones of Rhaegar’s voice[3] and thinks he would have made a good king. 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.

Early Life

Prince Rhaegar was King Aerys II and Queen Rhaella's first born son. He was born in the year 259 AC, on the very same day that the Tragedy at Summerhall took place. As a child he read obsessively, to the point that jests were made about his habits. He became a noted warrior later in life, although he did not initially seem inclined to martial habits. However, he became motivated to excel in this field, apparently by something he read. [4]

At 17, he was knighted, and from all reports grew into a highly skilled and capable fighter, always distinguishing himself well at tournaments, although he seldom entered the lists - he never loved the song of swords the way that Robert Baratheon or Jaime Lannister did.[5] Men said Rhaegar loved his harp more then he loved his lance.

He often liked to visit the ruins of Summerhall with only his harp and when he returned he sang songs of such beauty they could reduce women to tears. Although Rhaegar was often dour, private and bookish, Cersei Lannister once noted that the smallfolk cheered for Lord Tywin Lannister twice as much as for King Aerys II, but only half as loudly as for Rhaegar.

Rhaegar's squires were Myles Mooton and Richard Lonmouth, and after he knighted them they remained close companions. Lord Jon Connington was a good friend to Rhaegar too, but Rhaegar's closest and oldest friend was Ser Arthur Dayne.

When Rhaegar was born the Targaryen bloodline had decreased, and once he came of age, there was no one of that bloodline available for him to marry. [6] To try and rectify this matter, King Aerys, when he was not quite so mad, had sent his first cousin Steffon Baratheon to seek a bride for Prince Rhaegar, who had no sisters to wed.[7] Lord Steffon's mission proved fruitless. The problem that Steffon Baratheon faced when looking for Valyrian blood in Essos was not that there wasn't any left, but that he couldn't find any appropriate females of noble-enough birth. [8]

Later, Rhaegar married the Dornish princess Elia Martell, with whom he had two children: a daughter, Rhaenys, and a son, Aegon Targaryen.

Elia, due to her delicate health, was bed-ridden for half a year after giving birth to Rhaenys and nearly died giving birth to Aegon, after which the Maesters told Rhaegar she would be unable to have any more children.[9] Maester Aemon, whom Rhaegar corresponded with via raven messages, remembers that Rhaegar erroneously believed his child Aegon to be the Prince Who Was Promised.[10]

Love and Death

Rhaegar crowns Lyanna Stark as Queen of love and beauty - by M.Luisa Giliberti ©

During the Tourney at Harrenhal, Rhaegar Targaryen seemed unstoppable and defeated even Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. Taking the winter rose crown for the Queen of Love and Beauty, he revealed his interest in Lyanna Stark by passing over his wife, the Princess Elia of Dorne, and setting it in Lyanna's lap. Eddard Stark later recalled that at that moment, "all smiles died".[4] A year later, Rhaegar apparently kidnapped Lyanna, for reasons unknown. This act ultimately triggered Robert's Rebellion and the downfall of the Targaryen dynasty.

Rhaegar met Robert in combat at a ford during the Battle of the Trident, where the pair had a legendary duel in the raging rivers of the Trident. Rhaegar, despite wounding Robert, was struck down with a massive blow from Robert's warhammer, which scattered the rubies encrusted in Rhaegar's armor under the water. While Rhaegar lay dead in the stream, soldiers of both armies scrabbled in water to search for the rubies. The location was named Ruby Ford thereafter.

Rhaegar fighting Robert Baratheon at the Battle of the Trident - by Mike S Miller ©

His wife Elia and and at least one of their children were murdered by Ser Gregor Clegane and Ser Amory Lorch during the Sack of King's Landing. Lorch dragged the screaming girl, Rhaenys, from under her father's bed and stabbed her to death. Ser Gregor killed an infant (who was believed by many to be Aegon VI, but might actually have been a peasant baby) by dashing his head against the wall. He then raped and killed Elia.

The circumstances of Rhaegar's taking of Lyanna remain unknown, as is true for Lyanna's reaction to it. The Starks, Brandon Stark in particular, saw it as an abduction, and Robert Baratheon imagined that Rhaegar was raping Lyanna while he kept her prisoner. However, the Targaryen tradition sees Rhaegar acting out of true love for Lyanna. By the time Lyanna was found by her brother Eddard, she was kept in the Tower of Joy in Dorne where, on Rhaegar's command, she was guarded by three knights of the Kingsguard. Lyanna died soon after Eddard's arrival and his defeating the knights. She made her brother give a promise, the content of which remains unknown, as Eddard 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. Viserys Targaryen blamed his sister Daenerys once for the downfall of the Targaryens, because she was not born earlier, as Rhaegar could then have married her and might have never become interested in Lyanna.[4] Ser Kevan Lannister imagines that, had King Aerys accepted Lord Tywin Lannister's proposal of marrying his daughter Cersei to Rhaegar, the Dragon Prince might have never looked twice at Lyanna.[11]

After his death Rhaegar was cremated, as is traditional for fallen Targaryens. [12]

References in the Books

The Dragon Prince - by Silvenger©

A Game of Thrones

Robert Baratheon, when referring to Rhaegar, vilifies him as a monster and a rapist.

When the royal party moving south from Winterfell to King's Landing reaches the Ruby Ford, Arya Stark and her friend Mycah decide to search the Trident for rubies from Rhaegar's armor.[13]

During her fever dream, Daenerys sees her brother Rhaegar mounted on a stallion as black as his armor. Fire glimmers red through the narrow eye slit of his helm. Dany lifts his polished black visor. The face within is her own.

When Lord Tywin Lannister discusses with his brother Kevan and his son Tyrion the dire situation of the Lannister forces after the defeats in the Battle of the Whispering Wood and the Battle of the Camps, Tyrion jests that his father should take comfort from the fact that Prince Rhaegar is still dead.[14]

A Clash of Kings

Daenerys names one of her newborn dragons in honor of her brother Rhaegar. The green and bronzed scaled dragon is named Rhaegal in honor of her brave brother who died on the green banks of the Trident.

Rhaegar appears in Daenerys Targaryen's vision in the House of the Undying. He's seen talking to his wife Elia discussing what he'll name his son (Aegon) and his destiny. He also states that...

The Dragon has three heads, there must be one more.[1]

In the House of the Undying she also sees Rhaegar's death at the ruby ford of the Trident at the hands of Robert Baratheon:

Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a woman's name.

A Storm of Swords

While aboard the ship Balerion, Daenerys tells Arstan Whitebeard that she knows little of Rhaegar. Only the tales Viserys told, and he was a little boy when their brother died. When she asks him what Rhaegar was truly like Arstan replies:

Able. That above all. Determined, deliberate, dutiful, single-minded.

He then tells Dany a tale told of Rhaegar:

As a young boy, the Prince of Dragonstone was bookish to a fault. He was reading so early that men said Queen Rhaella must have swallowed some books and a candle whilst he was in her womb. Rhaegar took no interest in the play of other children. The maesters were awed by his wits, but his father’s knights would jest sourly that Baelor the Blessed had been born again. Until one day Prince Rhaegar found something in his scrolls that changed him. No one knows what it might have been, only that the boy suddenly appeared early one morning in the yard as the knights were donning their steel. He walked up to Ser Willem Darry, the master-at-arms, and said, 'I will require a sword and armor. It seems I must be a warrior.

While sleeping with his head resting on a weirwood stump, Jaime has fever dreams. In part of his dream he sees five of his old Kingsguard brothers under Aerys II. Beside them, crowned in mist and grief with his long hair streaming behind him, rides Rhaegar Targaryen, Prince of Dragonstone and rightful heir to the Iron Throne. Prince Rhaegar burns with a cold light, now white, now red, now dark. He tells Jaime:

I left my wife and children in your hands.

Jaime replies to Rhaegar that he never thought he’d hurt them.

A Feast for Crows

While standing vigil over his father's funeral bier, Jaime thinks about the day he said farewell to Rhaegar, in the yard of the Red Keep.

The prince had donned his night-black armor, with the three-headed dragon picked out in rubies on his breastplate. Jamie pled with him to accompany him but Rhaegar refused, telling Jaime that Aerys feared his father, Tywin Lannister, more than he did cousin Robert. He wanted Jaime close so Tywin could not harm him. Rhaeger stated that he dare not take that crutch away from Aerys at such an hour. When Jaime balked at that Rhaegar put a hand on young Jaime’s shoulder and told him:

When the battle’s done I mean to call a council. Changes will be made. I meant to do it long ago, but ... well, it does no good to speak of roads not taken. We shall talk when I return.

Those were the last words Rhaegar Targaryen ever spoke to Jaime. Outside the gates an army had assembled, whilst another descended on the Trident. So the Prince of Dragonstone mounted up and donned his tall black helm, and rode forth to his doom. [3]

Cersei Lannister remembers Rhaegar at the tourney that had been held at Casterly Rock, she was already infatuated when she was presented to him:

She was ten when she finally saw her prince in the flesh, at the tourney her lord father had thrown to welcome King Aerys to the west. Viewing stands had been raised beneath the walls of Lannisport, and the cheers of the smallfolk had echoed off Casterly Rock like rolling thunder. They cheered Father twice as loudly as they cheered the King, the queen recalled, but only half as loudly as they cheered Prince Rhaegar. Seventeen and new to knighthood, Rhaegar Targaryen had worn black plate over golden ringmail when he cantered onto the lists. Long streamers of red and gold and orange silk had floated behind his helm, like flames. Two of her uncles fell before his lance, along with a dozen of her father’s finest jousters, the flower of the west. By night the prince had played his silver harp and made her weep. When she had been presented to him, Cersei had almost drowned in the depths of his sad purple eyes. He has been wounded, she recalled thinking, but I will mend his hurt when we are wed. Next to Rhaegar, even her beautiful Jaime had seemed no more than a callow boy. [15]

It is revealed that at some point during the Robert's Rebellion Rhaegar could not be located. Jaime recollects that when Owen Merryweather failed to contain the rebellion Rhaegar could not be found, causing King Aerys to turn to the next best thing, Jon Connington, whom be raised to the Handship. [16]

A Dance with Dragons

Daenerys says to Ser Barristan that he saw her brother Rhaegar wed. She asks him to tell her if Rhaegar wed for love or duty. Ser Barristan hesitates and says:

"Princess Elia was a good woman, Your Grace. She was kind and clever, with a gentle heart and a sweet wit. I know the prince was very fond of her.

Dany thinks to herself that the word fond speaks volumes.[17]

During her wedding procession the girl in Daenerys looks about for her paramour Daario, hoping secretly that he will come and carry her off at swordpoint, as Rhaegar carried off his northern girl. But the queen in her knows that is folly. [18]

When Jon Connington is discussing the issue of trust with Young Griff, he warns him not to become too wary - else mistrust can poison and make a person sour and fearful. He thinks to himself that:

King Aerys was one such. By the end, even Rhaegar saw that plain enough.[19]

Later, after landing with the Golden Company to reclaim the Iron Throne, Jon Connington vows he will not fail Rhaegars son as he failed his father.[20]

When Prince Aegon Targaryen tells Jon Connington that he likes his castle, the Griffin's Roost, Jon suddenly recalls Rhaegar’s words to him and the way he looked when he was standing on the roof of the east tower, the tallest at Griffin's Roost:

"Your father’s lands are beautiful,” he said. His silvery hair was blowing in the wind, and his eyes were a deep purple, darker than this boy’s.

Quotes about Rhaegar

In my dreams, I kill him every night. A thousand deaths will still be less than he deserves. [21]

Robert Baratheon


And Rhaegar . . . how many times do you think he raped your sister? How many hundreds of times? I will kill every Targaryen I can get my hands on, until they are as dead as their dragons, and then I will piss on their graves. [22]

 – Robert Baratheon


Robert: Treachery was a coin the Targaryens knew well. Lannister payed them back in kind. It was no less than they deserved. I shall not trouble my sleep over it.

Ned: You were not there. There was no honor in that conquest.

Robert: The Others take your honor! What did any Targaryen know of honor? Go down into your crypt and ask Lyanna about the dragon's honor! [22]

Robert Baratheon to Ned Stark on Rhaegar


Dany: I hit him. Ser Jorah, do you think... he'll be so angry when he gets back... I woke the dragon, didn't I? Ser Jorah: Can you wake the dead, girl? Your brother Rhaegar was the last dragon, and he died on the Trident. Viserys is less than the shadow of a snake. [23]

– Ser Jorah Mormont to Daenerys Targaryen


You took a wound from Rhaegar, So when the Targaryen host broke and ran, you gave the pursuit into my hands. The remnants of Rhaegar’s army fled back to King's Landing. We followed. Aerys was in the Red Keep with several thousand loyalists. I expected to find the gates closed to us. [22]

 

Eddard Stark to Robert


I wish I could have known him.[24]

Dany


There was a melancholy to Rhaegar, a sense... of doom.[4]

Barristan Selmy to Daenerys Targaryen


Prince Rhaegar loved his Lady Lyanna and thousands died for it.[25]

Barristan Selmy


Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, Rhaegar fought honorably. And Rhaegar died.

– Ser Jorah Mormont


Had any man ever been so beautiful? [15]

Cersei

Family

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aegon V
 
Betha
Blackwood
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Duncan
 
Jenny
of Oldstones
 
Jaehaerys II
 
Shaera
 
Daeron
 
Rhaelle
 
Ormund
Baratheon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Aerys II
 
Rhaella
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
House Baratheon.svg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rhaegar
 
Elia
Martell
 
Shaena
 
 
Stillborn
child
 
 
Jaehaerys
 
 
Drogo
 
Daenerys
 
Hizdahr
zo Loraq
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rhaenys
 
Aegon
 
 
 
Daeron
 
Aegon
 
Viserys
 
Rhaego
 

References and Notes

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at House Targaryen. The list of authors can be seen in the page history of House Targaryen. As with A Wiki of Ice and Fire, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.