Kienn Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 This is the same person who thought running off with the daughter of one of the 8 most powerful men in the country, who's betrothed to one of the other 8 most powerful men in the country, who's brother is betrothed to marry the daughter of one of the other 8 most powerful men in the country. Thinking things through doesn't seem to be Rhaegar's strong point. No, he wanted the eldest son and lord in the North to come to court where his psycho dad would have them killed, leaving the stoic honorable second son - uncle of his child - to rule the North, adjacent to the Wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJIM Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Funnily enough i was thinking something similar yesterday. Why didn't they fight a duel in the Trident instead of a battle? They could have avoided all the bloodshed. Although, in the end of the day, i think Lyanna's kidnapping was just an excuse and the idea was always to dethrone the Targaryens (like Helen and Troy). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blutraven Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 But but but... he's handsome! And dreamy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blutraven Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 No, he wanted the eldest son and lord in the North to come to court where his psycho dad would have them killed, leaving the stoic honorable second son - uncle of his child - to rule the North, adjacent to the Wall. As far as we know, Rhaegar didn't know Ned in the slightest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winter's Knight Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Because he, unlike LF, felt that Lyanna ought to have a say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corbon Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Littlefinger challenged Brandon Stark to a duel after Brandon was betrothed to Catelyn Tully. Without even asking Catelyn if she wanted him to do it.At almost the exact same moment, Rhaegar was sneaking off with Lyanna, who was betrothed to Robert.Why didn't Rhaegar just do what Littlefinger did? Was he afraid of Robert? Have a think about it... How has Robert wronged Rhaegar? What claim does Rhaegar have on Lyanna. If he makes such a public claim, what will happen? Who would actually support his claim? Not Aerys. Who is the main person who actually matters. Aerys chose Rhaegar's other bride, and was denied a marriage of love himself choosing to accept the duty of marrying his sister as his own father instructed. You think Aerys, who is already distrustful of Rhaegar, is going to support Rhaegar taking another wife not of Aerys' choosing for love?Of course he's not. So if Rhaegar makes a public statement here by challenging Robert over Lyanna, then he opens himself up to the one person who actually has the legal power to prevent a marriage between them (or force other severe consequences that cannot be mitigated) doing so.Thats the last thing he needs. Do it quietly - easier to ask for forgiveness than do it after being denied permission.And disappear as well so that permission cannot be personally denied until its clearly and obviously too late (several months along, preferably with a bun in the oven) to deny it. That also has the beneficial side effect of reducing the possibilities of over-hasty reactions to almost zero on the other side as well.Unfortunately Brandon found a way so stupid and useless that it couldn't be predicted or prevented anyway, but thats on him, not Rhaegar or Lyanna. Never mind Winterknight's point about Lyanna having a say or nt. Even if you take that out of the equation is still fundamentally counterproductive, in a disastrous way, for him to challenge Robert to a duel over Lyanna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kienn Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 As far as we know, Rhaegar didn't know Ned in the slightest. As far as we know everything Rhaegar did was motivated by what he read in a prophetic book and likely saw in dragon dreams, so he didn't need to know anything personally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sansa_Stark Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Because he, unlike LF, felt that Lyanna ought to have a say?did he? We don't know for certain do we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The hairy bear Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Littlefinger challenged Brandon Stark to a duel after Brandon was betrothed to Catelyn Tully. Without even asking Catelyn if she wanted him to do it.At almost the exact same moment, Rhaegar was sneaking off with Lyanna, who was betrothed to Robert.Why didn't Rhaegar just do what Littlefinger did? Was he afraid of Robert? I think that you are not interpreting correctly the Littlefinger/Brandon duel. Even if Littlefinger had won, Catelyn would have still married Brandon. Hoster wouldn't allow otherwise. If you opened that door, it would have appeared some hedge knight strong enough to defeat Brandon and marry a wealthy noblewoman! The duel was mainly a pissing contest between two man who wanted the same woman. Probably Littlefinger insinuated that he had taken Cat's maidenhod, and Brandon wanted to defend her honor and take the chance to chastize the insolent lad. But it wasn't a "trial" to decide who'd take Cat away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Dayne's Honor Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 I don't really blame Lyanna for running off with Rhaegar. Putting aside the fact that her story is possibly completely cliche and let she goes understand the stereotype of women who like the angsty guys, she was forced into a bad situation by Rickard and likely thought that Rhaegar was a way out of it. If anyone is to blame its Rhaegar and Rickard. And that is putting aside the possibility that Rhaegar had a plan in place that someone screwed up to prevent war(no proof just common fricken sense, cuz Rhaegar seemed to be somewhat intellegent). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batman Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Logically, because he would lose. Practically, he was thinking with his smaller head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joluoto Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Rhaegar was already married. So the duel wouldn't have had any real function, he still can't get Lyanna with the consent of the Starks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee-Sensei Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 He was already married and he didn't wan't to have to face Robert, Brandon or Oberyn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckthorn Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Rhaegar was probably being delusional and arrogant. I'm guessing he felt fortune/fate was on his side because he was trying to fulfill a prophecy and would somehow be safe from harm in order to complete it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ygrain Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Have a think about it... How has Robert wronged Rhaegar? What claim does Rhaegar have on Lyanna. If he makes such a public claim, what will happen? Who would actually support his claim? Not Aerys. Who is the main person who actually matters. Aerys chose Rhaegar's other bride, and was denied a marriage of love himself choosing to accept the duty of marrying his sister as his own father instructed. You think Aerys, who is already distrustful of Rhaegar, is going to support Rhaegar taking another wife not of Aerys' choosing for love? Of course he's not. So if Rhaegar makes a public statement here by challenging Robert over Lyanna, then he opens himself up to the one person who actually has the legal power to prevent a marriage between them (or force other severe consequences that cannot be mitigated) doing so. Thats the last thing he needs. Do it quietly - easier to ask for forgiveness than do it after being denied permission. And disappear as well so that permission cannot be personally denied until its clearly and obviously too late (several months along, preferably with a bun in the oven) to deny it. That also has the beneficial side effect of reducing the possibilities of over-hasty reactions to almost zero on the other side as well. Unfortunately Brandon found a way so stupid and useless that it couldn't be predicted or prevented anyway, but thats on him, not Rhaegar or Lyanna. Never mind Winterknight's point about Lyanna having a say or nt. Even if you take that out of the equation is still fundamentally counterproductive, in a disastrous way, for him to challenge Robert to a duel over Lyanna. This. The same reason why go into hiding: because if Aerys finds out, he is most likely to put a stop to any ambition Rhaegar might have had concerning Lyanna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejhawman Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Narratively, the elopement was probably meant to be a romantic trope. Running off instead of standing boldly before the other guy. Plus, Rhaegar probably knew he couldn't take Robert at full strength. At the Trident he probably thought Robert was weakened. Evidently, not enough. C'est la guerre. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon's Queen Consort Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Logically, because he would lose. Practically, he was thinking with his smaller head. This. I believe that he knew he had no chance against RobertPrime and he thought he may had a chance in a battle were more than one person could attact Robert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingofSothoryos Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Shameless self-promotion:http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/100141-crackpot-theory-alert-aerys-commanded-rhaegar-to-abduct-lyanna/#entry5165739 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minsc Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 This. The same reason why go into hiding: because if Aerys finds out, he is most likely to put a stop to any ambition Rhaegar might have had concerning Lyanna. I thought Rhaegar had all the power needed to enter into a polygamous marriage thus why it wasn't cheating? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C0bR Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 No time for duels when you have an "utterly brilliant plan" (as corbon would say) in your mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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