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What was Rhaegar doing during Defiance of Duskendale?


Mithras

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There is no evidence at all that Rhaegar ran the affairs of the realm. He seemed pretty incompetent to run them with the way he handled Lyanna. He couldn't have much practice. Anyways, there isn't any indication to point to what he was doing. He is absent from Selmy's recollections of Duskendale. A son should have visited the seige at least. Six months is a bloody long time. Aerys must have become even more paranoid after Rhaegar not showing up to help him.

There's no textual evidence for any supposition about what Rhaegar was doing. He simply isn't mentioned in any narrative about the Defiance, so to answer the OP's question we're casting around for possible answers that make sense in light of what we know about how Westeros works and the personalities of the people involved.

I don't think the Lyanna affair is relevant. There's no reason to believe Rhaegar was prone to acting irrationally or incompetently when he wasn't madly in love.

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Robb Stark should have stayed home right?

I somehow missed the part where Robb had a Hand to handle things for him.

There is no evidence at all that Rhaegar ran the affairs of the realm. He seemed pretty incompetent to run them with the way he handled Lyanna. He couldn't have much practice. Anyways, there isn't any indication to point to what he was doing. He is absent from Selmy's recollections of Duskendale. A son should have visited the seige at least. Six months is a bloody long time. Aerys must have become even more paranoid after Rhaegar not showing up to help him.

You mean those couple of sentences we get in the novels, or that detailed, day-by-day diary that we can all read... oh, wait...

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As far as playing the harp...

I think he was on tour in the free cities with the rest of The Cure

Okay, that's hilarious!

I suddenly got this image of him doing a ten minute harp solo in the middle of Plainsong.....

:lmao:

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I mean by the very end of his tenure as king. People noted and prided themselves in how hard working Robb was. What did Rhaegar ever do besides crying in Summerhall and getting his ass kicked by Robert ane losing the kingdom?

This is beyond ridiculous. We know next to nothing about him, we know next to nothing about the degree to which he was even allowed to take part in the affairs of the realm, but here goes a judgement ready.

Barristan thought that Rhaegar would have made a fine king, so there must have been something else but playing the harp that he based his judgement on.

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This is beyond ridiculous. We know next to nothing about him, we know next to nothing about the degree to which he was even allowed to take part in the affairs of the realm, but here goes a judgement ready.

Barristan thought that Rhaegar would have made a fine king, so there must have been something else but playing the harp that he based his judgement on.

is there a quote that actually says "rhaeagar would have made a great king" because Barristan thinks rhaegae would have been a finer king than jaeherys, aerys and robert. I would hardly call that even halfway decent competition. Its the equiv. Of saying vomit isnt bad because its not as gross as poop. And while we may know little about him, the fact is what we do know about him only painta a negative picture imo
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Barristan admired Jaehaerys II, so him saying that Rhaegar would be a finer king than his grandfather actually says something about Rhaegar's character.

but did he specifically say jaehaerys was a great king or a good one? Barristan also notes that robert was a good knight but a bad king. Jaehaerys could have been a good person, but that doesnt mean he is a good king to barristan
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  • 3 months later...

Barristan admired Jaehaerys II, so him saying that Rhaegar would be a finer king than his grandfather actually says something about Rhaegar's character.

It would if during his story telling to Dany he actually found something of note to talk about Rhaegar.

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He could have been on Dragonstone, as the Prince of Dragonstone...



If we take Baelor Breakspear as an example - the best king Westeros never had -, Rhaegar must have been involved in the running of the realm very early on just like Baelor was in D&E. Later on he was planning a "traitors' tourney" at Harrenhal and nigh on everyone turned up, so he must have had some management skills and connections even if luck was not on his side at that time.


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He could have been on Dragonstone, as the Prince of Dragonstone...

If we take Baelor Breakspear as an example - the best king Westeros never had -, Rhaegar must have been involved in the running of the realm very early on just like Baelor was in D&E. Later on he was planning a "traitors' tourney" at Harrenhal and nigh on everyone turned up, so he must have had some management skills and connections even if luck was not on his side at that time.

Rhaegar had never had power, it was all Tywin, Rhaegar spent most his time being an emo and traveling to Summerhall.

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There is a reason why even in modern times, Princes or heirs don't travel in the same flights than their fathers. Also, when the head of a house or company is in danger, the priority is to keep the next heir safe, so, probably it wasn't even something Rhaegar could have decided himself. As pointed out about, the King was a prisoner and it would be stupid for the Prince to try to save him. We don't know if he wanted to, but I think he did and either Tywin or the Council tell him he couldn't.



Also, the King and Hand don't work alone. There is a council Even if Tywin was completely devoted to the task of rescuing Aerys, the Council was still working alone or with Rhaegar.


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Rhaegar had never had power, it was all Tywin, Rhaegar spent most his time being an emo and traveling to Summerhall.

You made it sound like it's Rhaegar's fault. It wasn't. Aerys was the King and Tywin was the hand. They both, along with the Council, run the Kingdom. Did Rhaegar had any kind of obligation? Nope. He was meant to learn how to rule and probably participate in some of the council meetings, listening and learning and providing heir to the crown. So, he liked to play the harp and visit Summerhall? There are so many other important Lords who had hobbies: Doran like to go the Water Gardens, Willas and Jon Arryn enjoyed falconry. None of those mean they didn't care about their people nor they were bad rulers.

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You made it sound like it's Rhaegar's fault. It wasn't. Aerys was the King and Tywin was the hand. They both, along with the Council, run the Kingdom. Did Rhaegar had any kind of obligation? Nope. He was meant to learn how to rule and probably participate in some of the council meetings, listening and learning and providing heir to the crown. So, he liked to play the harp and visit Summerhall? There are so many other important Lords who had hobbies: Doran like to go the Water Gardens, Willas and Jon Arryn enjoyed falconry. None of those mean they didn't care about their people nor they were bad rulers.

Rhaegar had lands to rule, dragonstone and the narrow sea lands. He spent most his time in the mainlands.

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In the UK the Prime Minister runs the country, but still needs a monarch to sign off everything to make laws etc.



So even if Rhaegar is incapable of running the 7 kingdoms, and Tywin had another person standing in as hand, they would still need Rhaegar to sing off on everything. Its naive to think 1 man could rescue the King in the first place let alone suggest that it should be the crown prince, it was only desperation that lead to the attempt. Rhaegar competent or otherwise is the head of state while his father was locked up, just like Rob then Bran where Lords of Winterfell.



Rhaegar is not noted because he obviously didnt do anything noteworthy, he did what was expected of him and stayed in KL keeping things running smoothly. Anything else valiant, foolish, cowardly, eccentric... would have been noted.


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