Oh he was mad, without a doubt. But based on all we know about Cersei now, you can't tell me that Aerys II made a bad decision, mad or not.

Especially when his son was Rhaegar Targaryen, who would have undoubtedly been the greatest king Westoros has ever seen. At least in my opinion.

(May 5, 2015 at 2:34 pm)Jericho Wrote: Oh he was mad, without a doubt.  But based on all we know about Cersei now, you can't tell me that Aerys II made a bad decision, mad or not.  

Especially when his son was Rhaegar Targaryen, who would have undoubtedly been the greatest king Westoros has ever seen.  At least in my opinion.

The gods must have been on his side when he rejected Tywin's proposal

Aww, Rhaegar and Elia Lyanna. 

Are you also a believer of R+L=J? 

Wait just a sec now, how do we know it might not have been better for all if Cersie had married Rhaegar?
Likely he would still have taken Lyanna, but would the Lannisters have joined the rebellion? No. The mad king wouldn't have been murdered, and Rhaegar would have become king once the mad king died. The rebellion would have failed, or not happened at all. There wouldn't be a current war of however many kings and queens are still fighting over it.

Then again, maybe Dorn would have joined the rebellion instead, since they wouldn't have been tied by marriage to the throne. Eh, how can we guess how the fictional world might have been if only Rhaegar HAD married Cersie instead of Elia?

Well Aroura, I would love to imagine a world where Rhaegar ruled as king. I'd like to think that Tywin would not have joined the rebellion (which he probably wouldn't have), but we all see how Lannisters plot for their future. Who's to say that he wouldn't have convinced Cersei to plan Rhaegar's death? Then we would be in a very similar situation as we are now. Again, this is all based in a fictional world where we can't really say what would happen. But no matter what, I wish Rhaegar was alive.

And yes dahrling, I do believe in the R+L theory.

(May 5, 2015 at 3:47 pm)Jericho Wrote: Well Aroura, I would love to imagine a world where Rhaegar ruled as king.  I'd like to think that Tywin would not have joined the rebellion (which he probably wouldn't have), but we all see how Lannisters plot for their future.  Who's to say that he wouldn't have convinced Cersei to plan Rhaegar's death?  Then we would be in a very similar situation as we are now.  Again, this is all based in a fictional world where we can't really say what would happen.  But no matter what, I wish Rhaegar was alive.  

And yes dahrling, I do believe in the R+L theory.

I think if Rhaegar did to Cersei what he did to Elia during the tournament, he'd probably wind up dead in his bedchamber, poisoned  

Yeah, for certain if Rhaegar and Cersei were married and he scooted off to Dorne with Lyanna, a rebellion would have happened. Robert still would have been pissed. Ned would have still been pissed. The only difference is it would have been over a lot sooner, because the Lannisters would have been spearheading the revolt instead of waiting to see who was going to win. Dorne would have stayed out of it and guarded the Boneway from the rebels. The North, The West, the Stormlands, the Riverlands and the Vale of Arryn would have all united to fight King's Landing and Highgarden, who were the King's Stewards. Dorne and The Iron Islands would sit out.

It would have been less bloody. But I think we'd be living in the same world. Cersei would have remained Queen, married Robert after Rhaegar dies. Tywin would have made sure of that before teaming up with Storm's End.

But---Cersei would have trueborn heirs by Rhaegar probably, so Robert actually might not have become king. The Targaryen succession would have remained, likely. Which means Viserys and Dany never flee to Dragonstone and Essos. Oooh. So the story would have been pretty mundane. Maybe not a rebellion, but just a mission to save Lyanna, because the gain of a rebellion is not great. If you remove one Targaryen, you have to remove them all or it's really just a hissy fit. Interesting...

I actually like the possibilites of that scenario. Unfortunately, I don't see many scenarios where Rhaegar would have lived, unless Robert just decided to forget about Lyanna. I mean, I am glad that the story isn't following a path that would have made it boring at best. I just want Rhaegar to be alive is all...haha.

I hope that they do in fact make a prequel series/movie that is about Robert's Rebellion.

You know, we only have other people's word that Lyanna was abducted. I have this funny feeling it was more consensual on her part than that....Rhaegar was handsome and charming and so forth. Robert was in love with Lyanna and she was betrothed to him, but that doesn't mean she loved him back. I wonder if Ned ever suspected the same?
So, I think that will be one of the end twists we get....because Jojen's father is still alive right? And he was there...so we still have a living person who can tell us (in the books anyway), and I'm sure they could fit that into the show.

That's just a little pet theory I have though.

I completely agree with that theory Aroura. Rhaegar was a charming, kind, honorable man. There is no reason why he would simply abduct her if she wasn't in love with him. I really hope that that theory along with the R+L theory get confirmed later on.

Oh I don't believe for a second that she was kidnapped against her will. Otherwise (at least most highborn ladies in Westeros would react this way) she would not have cared so much about the outcome of the child.

Ned and Robert were the winners, and winners write the history. So she was abducted.

Howland Reed did survive after the battle at the Tower of Joy, and he is the one that 'sent' Jojen and Meera to pledge to Robb and help Bran. I have a theory about Jojen and Howland Reed...