Significance of the deaths of Steffon and Cassana Baratheon?

[Fat Trell]

Yes you're right. But still it would be his mother's brother who joined him, abandoning his own family. That's very telling for a generally disliked guy like Stannis.

I think for as much as everyone(Stannis himself most often) claims no one loves Stannis, he elicits strong loyalty and admiration in the right type of man.

[Stormland's Fury]

I think for as much as everyone(Stannis himself most often) claims no one loves Stannis, he elicits strong loyalty and admiration in the right type of man.

Yes, it's implied that his core men (the one who were in the royal navy) are loyal to him to the death. There were some of them who were captured after Blackwater and refused to bend the knee to Joffrey and chose execution. That and the fact that most of the royal fleet stayed with him instead returning to King's Landing.

The hatred he gets stems much from other nobles anyway.

[JLE]

I'm more than willing to believe they were looking for someone with Valyrian blood. A surviving female Blackfyre, if she would be willing to marry Rhaegar, would be perfect, because it would re-unite the old Blackfyre and Targaryen claims, remove the threat of more Blackfyre rebellions, and be "family without being family" - that is, without entailing marrying a REAL close relative, they couldn't even be called out for a marriage that would be illegal for anyone else on grounds of incest. A Brightflame heiress, if it existed, would be a reasonable possibility too.

Note: Rhaegar had no sisters, cousins or aunts: and in any case, Aerys and Rhaella were, believe it or not, the first incestuous Targaryen couple known to have produced children since Aegon the Unworthy. In the previous four generations, no Targaryen is stated to have married a Targaryen, except only Aerys I and Aelinor, and their marriage was known to be celibate...

- Aegon V definitely married for love outside the family, despite having two sisters:

- His three sons also all definitely married for love outside the family (and broke betrothals to do so) despite having a sister. That sister, the only one of Aegon's children *not* to break a betrothal, married a Baratheon, not a brother, and thus was never even intended for a brother.

- Maekar's eldest two children, Daeron the Drunkard and Aerion Brightflame, are both known to have married and sired children, but they cannot have married one of their two sisters (since one was apparently free to be betrothed to Aegon in their youth, and the other apparently tried and failed to seduce him with a love potion: if they were free to pursue Aegon, this means Daeron and Aerion must have married elsewhere.) But when Aegon married, it was for love outside the family. Aemon of course did not marry and sired no children. Whether Maekar's two daughters eventually married or had offspring is not known, but it was not to any of their brothers.

- In the older generation, of course, Aerys I married Aelinor. This means that his older brother Baelor Breakspear's wife must have been outside the family (otherwise you would expect *him* to have married Aelinor - and since Baelor had two children, but Aelinor lived and died a maid, she cannot have been Baelor's wife.) Baelor's son Valarr also married (Matarys may not have married before he died), and there were no close relative females of Valarr's generation to marry, so he too must have looked outside the family for the mother of his two short-lived children.

- The same argument goes for the unnamed wives of Prince Rhaegel the Mad (father of twins) and Maekar, they must have been outside the family, since they had no more known sisters or close-relative cousins to marry, but both definitely married.

- Going up yet another generation, Daeron II did not marry a sister, he married Myriah Martell of Dorne. His sister married a Dornish prince, although she would have preferred Daemon Blackfyre (oddly enough there was no talk of brother-sister incest between Daeron and Daenerys.)

Elia of Dorne was, as it were, the second best thing - see above: there was Targaryen blood in the Dornish princes ever since the first Princess Daenerys married Maron Martell. So, in the event of the Baratheons failing to return from Essos with anyone with Valyrian blood (whether they found a female Blackfyre or Brightflame heiress is not known, since they did not return alive), Elia was the next best thing.

[Fat Trell]

Its interesting to note that had Robert, Stannis, or Renly been born a girl, they would have almost definitely married Rhaegar.

[Syrio the Dancer]

@JLE nice recap. To add a few things: we know that Bloodraven and Shiera Seastar had an affair, but there are no info of any children. And yet we have Viserys telling Dany in AGOT that had she been born earlier, she could marry Rhaegar - and reacting extremely hostile to her answer that had he be born a girl, he could. So, perhaps, he heard his father saying something along this lines, sugesting Aerys wished he was able too keep incestous tradition, and Said something similar to his younger son

[Magnolia]

I think Steffon sent away is interesting, when you think about all those speculations about people with unknown (to the reader) Targaryen heritage. As it was in the end Elia who was chosen (as the "second best thing"), it seems, that there are no females of the right age, from a family noble enough and with more "Targaryen-blood" around.

Whether Maekar's two daughters eventually married or had offspring is not known, but it was not to any of their brothers.

Aemon is talking about his sister's children, as far as I remember. So it seems they had offspring. If there female descents around the age to marry, they would be closer related then Elia but maybe not chosen if their family was insignificant.

It also seems as if there were no suitable Velaryons around, as they are pretty valyrian as well and intermarriage had been practiced often before.

In the wiki it's written, that Steffon found women with Valyrian blood, but non appropriate and noble enough. Maybe Brightflame or Blackfire were considered not appropriate. The encounter would be fascinating though.

A small question besides: Noble + Valyrian blood does not necessarily mean dragon rider, does it?