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Would Rhaegar have stayed with Elia if...


theMADdestScientist_

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15 hours ago, theMADdestScientist_ said:

Barristan says to Daenerys that Rhaegar married Elia out of duty, he didn't really chose her. And TWOIAF confirms this, Aerys did not let Rhaegar have any influence on the choice of his bride.

"In 278 AC, the king sent Lord Steffon across the narrow sea on a mission to Old Volantis, to seek a suitable bride for Prince Rhaegar, “a maid of noble birth from an old Valyrian bloodline.” That His Grace entrusted this task to the Lord of Storm’s End rather than his Hand, or Rhaegar himself, speaks volumes."

His attitude towards Dorne was the same attitude he had with everyone else by the end of his reign. He became a very hateful person, but before that he seemed to not have a problem with anyone.

There was no tensions between Aerys and Dorne. They supported and fought with him on the war of the ninepenny kings, and Elia's mother was a lady-in-waiting to Rhaella. Aerys knew dornish people well, and he was part dornish himself.

 

Rhaegar choosing Elia for his wife isn't mutually exclusive with them marrying out of duty. In fact, it's a very Rhaegar thing to do, given how dutiful he was.

The reason it doesn't seem like Elia was Aerys' choice to me is his "she smells Dornish" remark. That marks his disdain for Dorne as different to his mistrust of everyone else. (And I can't imagine Dorne had an easy relationship with a King who was so openly racist against them.) Though, I suppose Aerys could have given Rhaegar a Dornish bride because he thought her inferior.

Now that I think about it, maybe I didn't read Rhaegar choosing his own wife in the books, since I haven't managed to find any reference to it anywhere. It might have just been something I gleaned off of someone's essay or post.

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