Game of Thrones Season 7 finally confirmed one of the biggest secrets in the series – the father of Jon Snow is Rhaegar Targaryen. Rhaegar died some fifteen years before the main story, but he’s an important and mysterious character, connected to prophecy, and political plots, with complex relationships with Lyanna Stark and Elia Martell. Rhaegar’s actions shape the course of the story – with the fall of House Targaryen in Robert’s Rebellion, and the birth of Jon Snow, to the fate of Westeros in its fight against darkness.
So let’s work out who Rhaegar was, and what he means for the future of Thrones. Before Tommen and Joffrey and Robert, the King of Westeros was Aerys Targaryen. Prince Rhaegar was Aerys’ son and heir – and he was the brother of Daenerys and Viserys.
Rhaegar was married to Elia Martell – the sister of Oberyn and Doran – and they had two young children, Rhaenys and Aegon. But one day, at a tournament at Harrenhal, Rhaegar passed over his wife Elia and crowned Lyanna Stark – the sister of Ned Stark – as Rhaegar’s “queen of love and beauty”, when Lyanna was promised to marry Robert Baratheon. So the Baratheons, Starks, and Martells were mad about this, and the next year things got worse when Rhaegar ran off with Lyanna – and Robert started a war to get her back .
King Aerys was killed by Jaime Lannister. Daenerys and Viserys fled east. Elia Rhaenys and Aegon were killed by the Mountain and Amory Lorch .
Lyanna died giving birth to Jon Snow. And Rhaegar was killed in battle by Robert. The Targaryen dynasty, who had ruled Westeros for hundreds of years, was over – Robert Baratheon became the new king.
Fifteen years later, the first book begins and it’s a mystery exactly what happened with Rhaegar and Lyanna. King Robert says that Rhaegar abducted and raped Lyanna , but in Season 7 we learn that that’s a “lie” – and that Rhaegar and Lyanna were in love . There’s this whole thing in the books hinting that Lyanna rode in the Harrenhal tournament in disguise as a mystery knight, and Rhaegar was sent to go find her – which was probably how they met.
So they fell in love, secretly got married , and ran away to this tower in Dorne to have sex all day until Rhaegar was forced to the war with Robert – where he died “with Lyanna's name on his lips” , while Lyanna died in childbirth. It’s a tragic love story – but it’s also something more complicated. Cause Rhaegar risked everything with Lyanna.
He not only left his wife and children – he started a war that destroyed his family and his kingdom and his life . And the reasons behind this go deep into politics, and prophecy, and the fate of Westeros. When Rhaegar took Lyanna, he knew he was risking conflict.
Like, we’re told in the show that the war was “built” on this “lie” that Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna . But even if people knew the truth that Lyanna loved Rhaegar, they’d still be mad. Cause this was not a society that let women choose who they could love.
Lyanna was a political tool that the Baratheons and Starks were using to build a marriage alliance. By taking Lyanna, Rhaegar ruined those plans. He also insulted Dorne by rejecting his wife Elia.
So Rhaegar pissed off three of the most powerful families in the realm which is never a good idea, but it was especially dangerous at that time. The political situation was super delicate, cause the king, Aerys Targaryen, was insane. By the time of the tourney at Harrenhal, it was well known that Aerys was mad .
He was violent and paranoid , obsessed with fire , burning alive people he thought were his enemies . He was a terrible king, and lots of powerful people wanted him gone. Tywin Lannister had beef with Aerys, and said he’d prefer Rhaegar as king .
And it’s hinted that the Baratheons, Starks, Arryns and Tullys were forming an alliance against Aerys – marrying Lyanna was part of that . And Rhaegar himself was apparently plotting against his father. We’re told that the whole Tourney of Harrenhal began as a plot so Rhaegar could conspire with the great houses to force his dad into retirement .
So Rhaegar was playing the political game – he knew how dangerous things were, and he was carefully scheming to work with the houses to peacefully replace the Mad King. Until he suddenly threw that all away by publicly crowning Lyanna, insulting the very families who could have been allies against Aerys! Then by running off with Lyanna, he set off the chain of events causing war.
The Starks came angry to King’s Landing, the Mad King killed those Starks, and demanded the heads of Robert and Ned. That was when the war began . And it doesn’t seem to have much to do with the “lie” of an abduction.
It was caused by the tension between King Aerys and the great houses – which Rhaegar not only failed to fix, but made much worse by taking Lyanna. Why did Rhaegar take such a terrible risk at such a dangerous time? To understand why, we need to understand Rhaegar – from the very beginning.
We’re told that Rhaegar was good at everything that he did . He was smart , and a great warrior , he played the harp, he was beautiful . He was “Able … Determined, deliberate, dutiful [and] single-minded” .
Jorah calls Rhaegar “the last dragon” , and says he fought “valiantly”, “nobly” and “honourably” before he “died” . Cersei, as a child, had a big crush on Rhaegar , and hoped to marry him . Jon Connington also loves Rhaegar, his “silver prince” .
And Rhaegar was popular with the common people, who cheered him at tournaments . So, on the surface, Rhaegar seems like a golden boy who everyone loved . [] But Barristan says that no one truly knew Rhaegar .
He had a private, secretive side . A melancholy, and “a sense … of doom”, which was related to Rhaegar’s birth at Summerhall. [] Summerhall was a Targaryen “palace” in the south .
Rhaegar's great-grandfather King Aegon the Fifth brought his family there “to celebrate the impending birth” of Rhaegar . But Aegon also apparently tried to perform a fiery magic ritual to hatch some dragon eggs , and the fire got out of control and killed King Aegon and much of his family. [] It was during this tragedy at Summerhall, “amongst the flames”, that Rhaella Targaryen gave birth to Rhaegar .
“He was born in grief … and that shadow hung over him all his days”. But it wasn’t just grief that haunted Rhaegar – it was destiny. The Targaryens have always been guided by visions and prophecy .
The reason they survived the Doom and came to Westeros in the first place was cause of the visions of Rhaegar’s ancestor, Daenys the Dramer . We see Daeron and Daemon Blackfyre having prophetic dreams in Dunk and Egg. And prophecy is the reason why Rhaegar was born – his parents Aerys and Rhaella got married because a witch said that the prince that was promised would be born of their line .
The prince that was promised, or Azor Ahai, is a hero prophesied to be reborn and save the world from darkness – which seems to mean they’ll fight the white walkers. The prophecy’s vague and complex, and people interpret it in different ways. Melisandre, for instance, thinks Stannis Baratheon is Azor Ahai – which doesn’t work out – while others think Daenerys is the hero .
Rhaegar was also into this prophecy, and it guided him from a very young age. As a boy, Rhaegar wasn’t interested in playing with other kids – he just wanted to read books. Until one day, Rhaegar read about Azor Ahai, and came to believe that he was the prophesied hero.
So young Rhaegar went to the master-at-arms, and said he needed a sword – “It seems I must be a warrior”, he said . He talked about this in letters with his great-granduncle Maester Aemon. Aemon agreed that Rhaegar was Azor Ahai, cause according to prophecy, Azor Ahai will be reborn “amidst smoke and salt” .
They thought the smoke was from the fire that burned Summerhall when Rhaegar was born, and the salt was from the tears that were shed there. So Rhaegar was convinced that he was Azor Ahai, and since Azor Ahai’s described as a “warrior of fire” who will lead “the fight against the dark” , Rhaegar trained and became a great fighter. From a young age, Rhaegar was willing to shape his life around fulfilling the prophecy of Azor Ahai.
But his beliefs about that prophecy later changed. Aemon says Rhaegar came to believe that Azor Ahai was not Rhaegar, but Rhaegar’s son, Aegon – the baby he had with Elia. Because the prophecy says that Azor Ahai will be born “beneath a bleeding star” .
And Rhaegar and Aemon thought that this star was a comet that was seen the night Aegon was conceived . This connects to a vision that Daenerys has in Book 2 – she sees her brother Rhaegar and his wife Elia with their baby Aegon. Rhaegar says Aegon “is the prince that was promised” , and “There must be one more … The dragon has three heads” .
It’s not clear how the heads of the dragon relate to the prophecy of Azor Ahai, but the heads do connect to the symbolism of Rhaegar’s family, the Targaryens. Because their banner shows a dragon with three heads, which represents the three siblings who led the house three hundred years ago – Aegon, Rhaenys and Visenya . As Daenerys points out, these names connect to the names of Rhaegar’s children Aegon and Rhaenys.
So when Rhaegar says “There must be one more”, it sounds like Rhaegar wants a third child called Visenya – to complete the set of the dragon with three heads . But – there was problem. Rhaegar’s wife Elia was always “frail and sickly” .
And after giving birth to Aegon, she couldn’t bear any more children . So if Rhaegar believed “There must be one more” – he’d need another woman to produce his third child. And that is where Lyanna Stark comes in.
It seems likely that part of the reason Rhaegar ran off with Lyanna and fathered Jon Snow was that he wanted a third child to fit the three heads of the dragon. If he was planning for a daughter called Visenya to fit Aegon’s sisters – that didn’t work out. But he might have changed his mind about Aegon and decided that this third child, Jon, would be Azor Ahai.
Because Rhaegar says that Azor Ahai is connected to something called the “song of ice and fire” – which happens to be the title of the book series. Lyanna Stark of Winterfell is connected to ice. And Rhaegar of the Targaryen dragonlords is connected to fire.
So a child of Lyanna and Rhaegar would be a song – or a son – of ice and fire. There are many hints in the books that Jon may be Azor Ahai. Melisandre prays “for a glimpse of Azor Ahai”, and her god shows her Jon .
There’s smoke and salt and a bloody star in the scene where Jon dies. And Ned promised to protect Jon, making Jon a “prince” that was literally “promised”. So Jon – not Aegon or Rhaegar – may be the true hero.
It might have been Lyanna who realised this in the end – maybe she named Jon Aegon in the show – “What better name” for the prince that was promised? So it seems that in the end Rhaegar achieved his goal – his actions with Lyanna led to the birth of Jon, who may be the hero who’ll save the world. But does that really justify Rhaegar’s actions?
Couldn’t he find a way to father Jon without abandoning his family, and causing a war that killed thousands? How could he be certain that taking Lyanna was the only way? Vague prophecy seems like a convenient excuse for Rhaegar to do things that he probably wanted to do anyway – like ignoring difficult political realities, running away from his problems, and shacking up with a teenager – cause remember, Lyanna was just fifteen, in the books, while Rhaegar was a twenty-something year old prince.
You can imagine his pitch to her – like, ‘hey, I’m married, and you’re engaged, but if we don’t bang, the world will literally end – and did I mention I play the harp? ’. And he takes her away to this tower he calls the “tower of joy”, and they sit around making prophecy babies for like a year, meanwhile the world is burning.
Are these really the actions of a hero trying to save the world? Or was Rhaegar a selfish idiot who killed thousands cause he was thinking with his dick? There is one theory that ties things together in a way that could justify all of Rhaegar’s actions – including the war and the deaths.
Cause part of the prophecy of Azor Ahai is that the hero will have a “burning sword” called Lightbringer . In Book 2, we’re told a story of how the original sword was forged. Apparently Azor Ahai tried three times.
The first sword broke when he tempered it in water. The second sword broke when he tempered it by stabbing the heart of a lion. But the third sword he tempered by stabbing the heart of his beloved wife.
She cried with anguish and ecstasy and died, but her strength went into the steel, and that is how the true Lightbringer was forged, and the world was saved . Some readers have noticed that this story kinda mirrors the story of Rhaegar. Like Azor Ahai, he tried three times to fulfil prophecy.
First, he believed that he himself was Azor Ahai – but he ended up dying in the waters of the river Trident. Second, Rhaegar believed that his son Aegon would be Azor Ahai – but Aegon was killed in the war by the men of the Lion of Lannister, Tywin . The third and final time, Rhaegar made a child with his beloved wife, Lyanna.
He plunged his “sword” into her – conceiving Jon – and she died in childbirth. So the first sword, broke in water, is Rhaegar . The second sword, broke with a lion, is Aegon.
And the third sword, the true Lightbringer, forged with death of a beloved wife – is Jon Snow – “the sword in the darkness … the light that brings the dawn” . So while Jon is the weapon who’ll beat the white walkers, the hero Azor Ahai, is Rhaegar – dead years before the story even starts. This theory suggests that each of these deaths was necessary, predestined, to save the world.
Lyanna needed to die in childbirth. Aegon needed to die in the war. And Rhaegar needed to die at the Trident.
Maybe he knew. Maybe Rhaegar saw this stuff in dreams like his Targaryen ancestors did, and he knew that his fate was to die and to cause the deaths of everyone he loved. And that’s why he could never be happy, never be known , or fully love, or explain himself to anyone – that was his melancholy, his sense of doom .
Maybe his is the song of ice and fire – and from the beginning, he knew how it ends . That’s one theory anyway. There’s a lot we still don’t know – about Rhaegar’s goals, the politics, prophecy, heads of the dragon – and about Lyanna and Elia – like how did Elia feel about her husband running off with another woman?
Was she in on the prophecy stuff? And how much did Lyanna know? Between Lyanna and Elia and Rhaegar’s mother Rhaella there are a lot of women in this story whose only role’s to be pretty, give birth, then die – we know almost nothing about them, so it’d be nice to learn some more about their stories.
What is clear is that Rhaegar and his legacy are tied to the fate of Westeros, and we’ll keep seeing his influence until the end. Alt Shift X now has a website at altshiftx. tv.
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Lots of the ideas in this video are from the Game of Thrones community online, so check out the posts and essays linked below. Thanks to the Patrons, including DylanGeekozoid, Ksenia Kalinina, Thor Alexander Almelid, LeighaBlaze, FaeryQuiene, Espen Bjørk, Szymon Polok, Raine De Prinse, David Oakland, and Blackclover. Cheers.
