Underapreciated mystery: Why did Rhaegar Targaryen knight Gregor Clegane?

[Son of Jon Snarkgaryen]

Sandor tells Sansa that he was 6 or 7 when Gregor burned him and that Gregor was five years older than he (Sandor) was. This would make Gregor 11 or 12 at the time of the burning. Sandor then says that Gregor was knighted by Rhaegar 4 years later, making Gregor 15 or 16. If Gregor was 17 at the time of the Sack of King's Landing, that makes it likely that more than a year had passed.

I think it makes more sense that Ned is stretching the idea of "new made" beyond a year than coming up with some cloak-and-dagger knighting ceremony as part of conspiratorial plotting between Tywin and Rhaegar while the war was going on.

One possibility: the age discrepancy could be due to GRRM trademark tendency to use the "unreliable narrator" device; Sandro was young, and suffered a traumatic experience, both of which could contribute to him misremembering his and Gregor's respective ages;

also, just because I found it odd and maybe suspicious that Rhaegar (a supposedly truly pure knight) would knight someone like Gregor, I never suggested that he was either doing it because he was expecting Gregor to play into some prophecy, or because he was plotting some dark conspiracy with Tywin - only that it seemed a glaring error in judgement for someone as supposedly beloved as Rhaegar to promote someone like Rhaegar

Even late in the war, Rhaegar was trying to do this. After the Battle of the Bells, Rhaegar urged Aerys to summon Tywin to King's Landing to help deal with the Rebellion. Jaime mentions this to Brienne in SoS.

Quote

Jon Darry and Barristan Selmy rode to Stoney Sept to rally what they could of griffins' men, and Prince Rhaegar returned from the south and persuaded his father to swallow his pride and summon my father. But no raven returned from Casterly Rock, and that made the king even more afraid.

All of this being said; I am a big enough man to admit when I am wrong; and, although I do not remember reading this quote (between Jaime and Brienne) in ASOS, if it is accurate, it does seem to indicate that Rhaegar still trusted Tywin, possibly as far up to the time of his death on the Trident, however ironic as that may seem..... which it does to me.....

so for now, until/unless I can find evidence to prove that Rhaegar stopped trusting Tywin between the time he convinced Aerys to summon Tywin, and the time he went to battle Robert on the Trident (and whatever that also might mean for Gregor's knighthood), I stand corrected.....

[Bourne]

The Knight of the Laughing Tree thing has a few problems.

1. There were three bullies who are identified by their knights' sigils. There's a pitchfork (probably Haigh, a Riverlands house), a porcupine and the Frey towers. The only house I found with porcupines was Blount, which is a Crownlands house (they have two, so it might not be them). Without knowing for whom Gregor squired, it's impossible to know whether he could have been one of the bullying squires. Possible, sure, but no way to know.

2. No one figured out who the KotLT was, at least publicly. We kind of assume Rhaegar did, but he kept the identity a secret. So even if it was Lyanna, how would Gregor have known?

3. Why would that hatred of Lyanna Stark been manifested in the murder of Elia Martell and her children?

And even more importantly, there is no way Lyanna could beat Gregor. If memory serves Sandor says that at 12, Gregor was already bigger than the average man. It stands to reason that at fifteen he would have been approaching 7 feet. First, if one of those squires had been gigantic like that, I think it would have made it into the story. Secondly, I don't care if Lyanna is the female Jaime Lannister, a 5' 6'' (at best), thinly built girl isn't going to beat a 7' tall man. Not with a tourney sword especially. There is a point where size is just too much to overcome, and that is well beyond it.

[hotweaselsoup]

I think this is reaching. As others have said, there are medical reasons why a person of such a large size could suffer from headaches. As you noted, Merrett Frey suffered from a traceable head injury. I get the impression that Gregor's are more "mysterious" (i.e. hard to explain) in origin.

Well, maybe the origins of his headaches are mysterious because Clegane doesn't want anyone to know how they began? If he got knocked out by a girl, I can see Mr. Mountain wanting to keep that on the down low.

The Knight of the Laughing Tree thing has a few problems.

1. There were three bullies who are identified by their knights' sigils. There's a pitchfork (probably Haigh, a Riverlands house), a porcupine and the Frey towers. The only house I found with porcupines was Blount, which is a Crownlands house (they have two, so it might not be them). Without knowing for whom Gregor squired, it's impossible to know whether he could have been one of the bullying squires. Possible, sure, but no way to know.

If he was the crannogman of the story, Howland Reed would know.

2. No one figured out who the KotLT was, at least publicly. We kind of assume Rhaegar did, but he kept the identity a secret. So even if it was Lyanna, how would Gregor have known?

3. Why would that hatred of Lyanna Stark been manifested in the murder of Elia Martell and her children?

I'm not really positing anything beyond the possibility that Gregor was one of the bullying squires, and that he developed a hatred for Lyanna Stark as a result. I'm also considering that there may have been a reason for Rhaegar to knight Clegane that had something to do with some service Clegane provided Rhaegar, which may have involved Lyanna - but that's just really wild speculation.

[oba]

All of this being said; I am a big enough man to admit when I am wrong; and, although I do not remember reading this quote (between Jaime and Brienne) in ASOS, if it is accurate, it does seem to indicate that Rhaegar still trusted Tywin, possibly as far up to the time of his death on the Trident, however ironic as that may seem..... which it does to me.....

The quote is from page 506 of the U.S. Paperback. Jaime is recounting events regarding the Rebellion and his killing Aerys while the two of them are in the bathhouse at Harrenhal.

[Hear Us Roar]

well he was not a known killer at the time. He was young and just starting out

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

And even more importantly, there is no way Lyanna could beat Gregor. If memory serves Sandor says that at 12, Gregor was already bigger than the average man. It stands to reason that at fifteen he would have been approaching 7 feet. First, if one of those squires had been gigantic like that, I think it would have made it into the story. Secondly, I don't care if Lyanna is the female Jaime Lannister, a 5' 6'' (at best), thinly built girl isn't going to beat a 7' tall man. Not with a tourney sword especially. There is a point where size is just too much to overcome, and that is well beyond it.

This, too. When you word it that way the whole thing just kind of falls apart. I also think that if Gregor had been one of the squires, Martin would have made it possible for us to find that out, either in the story itself or by saying for whom Gregor had squired. As it is, I think the biggest takeaway is the identity of the knights, not so much the squires. We have pretty definite IDs on a Frey and a Haigh, houses who'd later go on to Red Wedding infamy. If the third knight was a Blount (no other house that I've seen has a porcupine sigil), that house produced the craven and useless Boros Blount. The fact that these knights employed bullying squires says as much about them as it does about the squires themselves; there's a reason why the squires are ID'd in relation to the knights, and not in terms of their own houses. The KotLT holds the knights responsible for the behavior of their squires, and if the knights come from the houses I think they do, then it just sets up a "par for the course" conclusion and hints that the house decay goes deeper than any one person.

I'm not really positing anything beyond the possibility that Gregor was one of the bullying squires, and that he developed a hatred for Lyanna Stark as a result. I'm also considering that there may have been a reason for Rhaegar to knight Clegane that had something to do with some service Clegane provided Rhaegar, which may have involved Lyanna - but that's just really wild speculation.

But this STILL doesn't address the fact that no one (other than Rhaegar, who didn't blab, and any accomplices) knew who the Knight of the Laughing Tree was. How could Gregor develop a hatred of Lyanna when he had NO WAY of connecting her to the KotLT identity?

This is well beyond crackpot at this point. :P

[Catastrophe]

I don't really get what the problem is here. Was Rhaegar supposed to be completely omniscient or something? Because while I'm sure he was a good man with good judgment, he probably knighted dozens of people during his lifetime. Maybe hundreds. There's no possible way he could've known what each and every one of them were like. Even if he'd heard rumors or seen visions or just had a bad feeling about Gregor, that's no excuse not to knight him if he genuinely seemed to deserve it at the time.

Just like in real life, being "good" or "smart" doesn't mean that characters can't make mistakes. It's one of the things I like about this series. Ned was a good person, Tywin was extraordinarily intelligent, and Tyrion was both, but they all screwed up at some point. Sometimes it's impossible not to screw up in some way or another. If Rhaegar was really that perfect, how'd he still end up getting killed?

[hotweaselsoup]

But this STILL doesn't address the fact that no one (other than Rhaegar, who didn't blab, and any accomplices) knew who the Knight of the Laughing Tree was. How could Gregor develop a hatred of Lyanna when he had NO WAY of connecting her to the KotLT identity?

This is well beyond crackpot at this point. :P

Lyanna wasn't disguised as a knight when she beat up the squires, and if Gregor was a squire, he would have recognized her. No mystery knight needed.

And she could have been on horseback when she found the squires bullying the crannogman, which would have negated her height disadvantage. Gallop in, whack Gregor in the skull - boom. There is only one brief sentence about the encounter in Meera's story, so this scenario is not completely outside the realm of reason.

I'll admit that the theory is a stretch, but I don't think it's "beyond crackpot". I have plenty of those, so I think I know the difference :P

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

Lyanna wasn't disguised as a knight when she beat up the squires, and if Gregor was a squire, he would have recognized her. No mystery knight needed.

And she could have been on horseback when she found the squires bullying the crannogman, which would have negated her height disadvantage. Gallop in, whack Gregor in the skull - boom. There is only one brief sentence about the encounter in Meera's story, so this scenario is not completely outside the realm of reason.

I'll admit that the theory is a stretch, but I don't think it's "beyond crackpot". I have plenty of those, so I think I know the difference :P

I'll rest my argument by reaffirming that if Gregor was one of the squires and it meant anything, at all to the plot, we would've been given some indication that it was him. There is none. As it stands, all it really shows is that Frey, Haigh and Blount were "bad seed" houses even back then, who employed bratty, bullying squires who probably learned from bratty, bullying knights how to behave. I think that's the "real story" there. We're meant to focus on the knights themselves, not so much their squires.

I still think this entire argument — that there's some Grand Gregor Conspiracy about a baby-switched Aegon — is pretty damn crackpotty. :P

[Silmarien]

Yeah, AverageCheese, I'm just not buying the "it meant nothing" theory. You've got two major characters, one known for his honor giving a major honor to a horribly dishonorable person, right around the time he was making all kinds of moves directly motivated by prophecy, and then shortly thereafter the Mountain repays this favor by raping and killing Rhaegar's wife and killing his infant son, oh but wait the infant son didn't really die. There's way too much weirdness about all of that for it to have no significance. Rhaegar knighted the Mountain because he knew he would use him somehow in this prophecy he was trying to fulfill. I don't know how, I just know it's going to turn out that way. You read it here first.

Wait, since when was Rhaegar known for his honor? He abducted a maiden at swordpoint (whether she went willingly is up to debate, but still)!

ETA: I don't think Rhaegar is evil or bad, but I don't think he can be compared to honorable Ned, for example. Also, as the crown prince he'd have knighted plenty of people - he wouldn't have known them all personally.

Also, I agree with all the other posters who think the theory that Gregor Clegane was knighted because Rhaegar had a special Targ vision of him is absolutely beyond crackpot. There's no evidence in the text.

[bronnxtyrion]

I read through most of the posts. What I don't understand is why do so many people think Rhaegar as intelligent/wise. He may have been a nice good hearted/honourable dude but he was nowhere near intelligent/wise/cunning. We haven't seen a single action of his which can be said as intelligent/wise/cunning. All the POVs who admire Rhaegar are those who are pathetic in the game of thrones. For example we have never seen Tyrion admire him(Connington is in love and should not be counted). The guy started an unwanted war that destroyed his family. I am not speaking of the right or wrong of kidnapping Lyanna but disappearing after doing it was a big blunder. If any lesson can be learnt from Littlefinger/Varys etc. it is that nothing will go according to your prediction in the game of thrones and you have to be constantly changing your strategy and often your goals itself to suit the changing scenario. Instead what does Rhaegar do- dissapear from the scene. Also people are not considering the war. We know that the entire reach and dorne were for the Targaryans, much of riverlands- infact entire riverlands (Hoster Tully fought only because the Ned and Jon married his daughters and not because of his love for Brandon Stark.),some of the stormlands and some of the eyrie and the Lannisters were neutral till almost the end. Seriously how can anybody botch up a war so badly and end a 300 year old dynasty.

My impression of Rhaegar is that of another Ned Stark (Not quite, Ned was atleast a decent battle commander, but Rhaegar died trying to cross the Redfork).Or maybe he was just a mask like Joffrey (not in a cruel masked in handsome kind of way but in a naive masked in handsome kind of way ) was with Sansa. So guys please stop trying to find a hidden meaning behind every action of Rhaegar's.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

I read through most of the posts. What I don't understand is why do so many people think Rhaegar as intelligent/wise. He may have been a nice good hearted/honourable dude but he was nowhere near intelligent/wise/cunning. We haven't seen a single action of his which can be said as intelligent/wise/cunning. All the POVs who admire Rhaegar are those who are pathetic in the game of thrones. For example we have never seen Tyrion admire him(Connington is in love and should not be counted). The guy started an unwanted war that destroyed his family. I am not speaking of the right or wrong of kidnapping Lyanna but disappearing after doing it was a big blunder. If any lesson can be learnt from Littlefinger/Varys etc. it is that nothing will go according to your prediction in the game of thrones and you have to be constantly changing your strategy and often your goals itself to suit the changing scenario. Instead what does Rhaegar do- dissapear from the scene. Also people are not considering the war. We know that the entire reach and dorne were for the Targaryans, much of riverlands- infact entire riverlands (Hoster Tully fought only because the Ned and Jon married his daughters and not because of his love for Brandon Stark.),some of the stormlands and some of the eyrie and the Lannisters were neutral till almost the end. Seriously how can anybody botch up a war so badly and end a 300 year old dynasty.

My impression of Rhaegar is that of another Ned Stark (Not quite, Ned was atleast a decent battle commander, but Rhaegar died trying to cross the Redfork).Or maybe he was just a mask like Joffrey (not in a cruel masked in handsome kind of way but in a naive masked in handsome kind of way ) was with Sansa. So guys please stop trying to find a hidden meaning behind every action of Rhaegar's.

I sort of agree with you and sort of don't. I agree with you in that I think Rhaegar was absolutely capable of being fallible and knighting someone like Gregor without knowing what kind of person he really was. But we have several people who attest to Rhaegar's inherent decency and popularity other than Connington, including Jorah, Barristan, Jaime, Cersei and even Ned, who fought against him. Ned knows that Rhaegar is ultimately responsible for his sister's death, and yet he seems to feel no animosity toward him at all, and even notes that he's not the sort of man to frequent brothels. The only person who remembers him hatefully in any way is Robert.

[Winterfell is Burning]

Cersei had a crush on him, rockstar type.

Just because Ned doesn't think Rhaegar is the type to frequent brothels doesn't mean he likes Rhaegar, or thinks he was a decent man. He probably thought Tywin wasn't the type to frequent brothels either, yet he doesn't like him.

Jorah I never got the impression he actually liked Rhaegar, and rather was praising him to get in Dany's good graces.

[Son of Jon Snarkgaryen]

And Lindsay Lohan becomes even more irrelevant :lol:

Ha! I just noticed this for the first time! I do know who Lindsay Lohan is, unfortunately, but only because she keeps getting arrested, like, every week..... So, I guess Mean Girls is one of her movies or TV shows?

[Chise]

Ha! I just noticed this for the first time! I do know who Lindsay Lohan is, unfortunately, but only because she keeps getting arrested, like, every week..... So, I guess Mean Girls is one of her movies or TV shows?

Mean Girls is a movie, about high school and popular girls and all that junk. Screenplay by amazingly~divine Tina Fey

its also a damn popular meme using a fuckton of quotes from the film

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

Mean Girls is a movie, about high school and popular girls and all that junk. Screenplay by amazingly~divine Tina Fey

its also a damn popular meme using a fuckton of quotes from the film

Correct. To elaborate, one of the girls in question is trying to get "fetch" off the ground as a slang term for "cool" or "awesome" or whatever. Like, "Oh that movie was so fetch." She keeps trying to sneak it into conversations and get others to adopt it, but it's clear that she's trying way too hard and no one's buying it. Finally, she says "That is so fetch!" for about the fiftieth time, and the head mean girl gets fed up and says, "Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen! It's not going to happen!"

[corbon]

Actually though. Gregor probably won a tournament and Rhaegar said "Oh your a good fighter heres a knighthood" and anyone thinking otherwise is just an idiot and Martin is just trying to show a sense of irony.

This, although it could even have been simpler - no tourney win just a group of squires 'due' to be knighted (ie approved by their mentors) and Rhaegar happened to be around at the time.

Wait, since when was Rhaegar known for his honor? He abducted a maiden at swordpoint (whether she went willingly is up to debate, but still)!

Since everything we know about him from anyone other than Robert (and Bran, reciting 'history' written by the winner, Robert).

The only thing that tells us Rhaegar even abducted Lyanna was Robert, who is so irrational over the subject that he accepts the brutal murder of babies without blinking an eyelid, in contrast to his usual easy demeanor. No one actually knows what happened between Rhaegar and Lyanna. The participants are all dead (or totally anonymous).

His best friend and closest companion was Ser Arthur Dayne, the man who is considered one of the greatest and most honourable knights who ever lived.

Who your friends are is one of the most revealing things about a person.

I read through most of the posts. What I don't understand is why do so many people think Rhaegar as intelligent/wise.

Because that is how he has been represented by everyone except Robert.

From the Wiki:

Rhaegar was tall and handsome. Rhaegar was exceedingly intelligent and excelled at anything he put his mind to.

...

As a child he read almost obsessively to the point that jests were made about his habits. He became a noted warrior in later life, although he did not initially seem inclined to martial habits. However, he became motivated to excel in this field, apparently by something he read.^[2] At seventeen he was knighted and from all reports grew into a highly skilled and capable fighter always distinguishing himself well at tournaments, but seldom entered the lists. Men said Rhaegar loved his harp more then he loved his lance.

He often liked to visit the ruins of Summerhall with only his harp and when he returned he sang songs of such beauty they could reduce women to tears. Although Rhaegar was often dour, private, and bookish, Cersei Lannister once noted that the smallfolk cheered for Lord Tywin Lannister twice as much as for King Aerys II, but only half as loudly as for Rhaegar, and Jaime Lannister still thinks he would have made a good king. Barristan Selmy who served three kings recalled that Rhaegar would have been better then all three combined

[bronnxtyrion]

I never meant to say that Rhaegar was a bad person, only that he was not the calculating type. It is true that only Robert considers him an evil person but he isn't depicted as wise/cunning by anyone. Since he is bookish I concede that he must be intelligent but one must note that people can be bookish and knowledgeable but still not be world-wise (One must also note that Rhaegar was into the PWWP kinda fairytaleish juicy kinda books not the 100 year discourse on weather/weapons of war kinda books like Tyrion.Add to that his emo nature, despite being the most fortunate man in the 7 kingdoms,I think we can get a picture of his personality as someone who fantasized himself as a tragic hero. Seriously, what problems did he have in his life to make those ultra depressing songs). The info in the wiki is taken from what Selmy told Dany and Selmy is not exactly a cunning person.

Anyway what I mean to say is that the best possibility is that Rhaegar may have just knighted him after a tourney or so. Only reason to believe otherwise is that GRRM had the hound mention that insignificant but ironic fact.

[voodooqueen126]

I read through most of the posts. What I don't understand is why do so many people think Rhaegar as intelligent/wise. He may have been a nice good hearted/honourable dude but he was nowhere near intelligent/wise/cunning. We haven't seen a single action of his which can be said as intelligent/wise/cunning. All the POVs who admire Rhaegar are those who are pathetic in the game of thrones. For example we have never seen Tyrion admire him(Connington is in love and should not be counted). The guy started an unwanted war that destroyed his family. I am not speaking of the right or wrong of kidnapping Lyanna but disappearing after doing it was a big blunder. If any lesson can be learnt from Littlefinger/Varys etc. it is that nothing will go according to your prediction in the game of thrones and you have to be constantly changing your strategy and often your goals itself to suit the changing scenario. Instead what does Rhaegar do- dissapear from the scene. Also people are not considering the war. We know that the entire reach and dorne were for the Targaryans, much of riverlands- infact entire riverlands (Hoster Tully fought only because the Ned and Jon married his daughters and not because of his love for Brandon Stark.),some of the stormlands and some of the eyrie and the Lannisters were neutral till almost the end. Seriously how can anybody botch up a war so badly and end a 300 year old dynasty.

My impression of Rhaegar is that of another Ned Stark (Not quite, Ned was atleast a decent battle commander, but Rhaegar died trying to cross the Redfork).Or maybe he was just a mask like Joffrey (not in a cruel masked in handsome kind of way but in a naive masked in handsome kind of way ) was with Sansa. So guys please stop trying to find a hidden meaning behind every action of Rhaegar's.

This, although it could even have been simpler - no tourney win just a group of squires 'due' to be knighted (ie approved by their mentors) and Rhaegar happened to be around at the time.

Since everything we know about him from anyone other than Robert (and Bran, reciting 'history' written by the winner, Robert).

The only thing that tells us Rhaegar even abducted Lyanna was Robert, who is so irrational over the subject that he accepts the brutal murder of babies without blinking an eyelid, in contrast to his usual easy demeanor. No one actually knows what happened between Rhaegar and Lyanna. The participants are all dead (or totally anonymous).

His best friend and closest companion was Ser Arthur Dayne, the man who is considered one of the greatest and most honourable knights who ever lived.

Who your friends are is one of the most revealing things about a person.

Because that is how he has been represented by everyone except Robert.

From the Wiki:

Rhaegar was tall and handsome. Rhaegar was exceedingly intelligent and excelled at anything he put his mind to.

...

As a child he read almost obsessively to the point that jests were made about his habits. He became a noted warrior in later life, although he did not initially seem inclined to martial habits. However, he became motivated to excel in this field, apparently by something he read.^[2] At seventeen he was knighted and from all reports grew into a highly skilled and capable fighter always distinguishing himself well at tournaments, but seldom entered the lists. Men said Rhaegar loved his harp more then he loved his lance.

He often liked to visit the ruins of Summerhall with only his harp and when he returned he sang songs of such beauty they could reduce women to tears. Although Rhaegar was often dour, private, and bookish, Cersei Lannister once noted that the smallfolk cheered for Lord Tywin Lannister twice as much as for King Aerys II, but only half as loudly as for Rhaegar, and Jaime Lannister still thinks he would have made a good king. Barristan Selmy who served three kings recalled that Rhaegar would have been better then all three combined

I think Rhaegar was intellectual, which does mean he was intelligent in IQ... but he seemed to have poor Emotional intelligence (EQ) and have been foolish (running off with Lyanna then disappearing rather than dealing with the mess).

I think a lot of intellectuals have poor judgement of people, especially they lack the ability to understand evil.

[DragonSpawn]

Good topic! Started talking about this in small questions and a Sandor thread as well recently so nice to see a more dedicated thread. Rhaegar knighting Gregor could just be simple common sense, Big - Strong - Ferocious... who wouldn't want him as a knight? - Tywin used him as a mad dog... and look at all the carnage he has caused! His headaches could be a sign of some medical condition... and could be responsible for his short temper... but the rape etc... can still only be explained by his unflinching brutality... There is no 'grey' where Gregor is concerned... he was a monster from birth.... and it's likely he has taken his true form now... as Cersei's monster... unlike Brans monster who is held together by a tree and was feared by everyone as kings hand - Gregor deserves the fear he gets... (still don't know what's holding him together)... Brynden just allowed people to fear him due to the benefits this had in keeping control of people... but he was never truly evil. At the moment... The Great Other seems to be less feared than Ser Gregor...who has pissed in the faces of the Targaryens, Starks, and Dornish... and now is supposedly undefeatable (a bit like the great other)....

It's mentioned that Rhaegar had been pretty much convinced to overthrow his father... The Starks were fighting against Aerys because of what happened to Brandon and his father... Both the Baratheons and Starks were fighting against Rhaegar becasue of Lyanna... In a way there were two wars going on... Thanks to Lyanna, Ned now knows that Rhaegar was not evil... just Aerys... so the battle against Rhaegar was irrelevant... Rhaegar knew he was not the PwwP... as he had already declared his son to be... He also left the Kingsgaurd to protect Lyanna... which is weird because Rhaegar wasn't even king at the time... which kinda suggests he knew both him and Aerys were going to die... some poeple have speculated that if you know your going to die - why not take steps to avoid it... like glamouring someone else to take the fall... Rhaegar was known for his rubies on his armour - some have argued these were like the rubies Melisandre uses... but i just think that would be weird if Rhaegar turned out to be still alive so i'm not humouring that speculation... what is worth noting though is that Rhaegar seems to be at the centre of everything... His birth was marked with the tradgedy of summerhall... and a meteor... he appointed Ser Gregor who killed the supposed PwwP, raped Rhaegars queen, helped start the war of the 5 kings, killed the prince of Dorne, has died and yet is somehow still alive ... (maybe) ... and other characters that have been associated with him have also been flagged as being important... for example - Patchface was meant to be a gift for Rhaegar but was the only survivor of the shipwreck and now he's generally making everyone feel uncomfortable...

In summary: This all goes back to the war of the gods... "men make plans and the gods smash them all to pieces" - An evil god (will call him the Great Other for now) is taking everything Rhaegar does and is turning it to shit... some of his followers were turned against him and enemies have been planted all around him... However, i don't think it's all one-way-evil-traffic... A good god or gods... (old gods / Rh'ollor or most likely both this time round) have taken steps to undermine the evil... hiding Jon Snow away at the Wall... ready to take on the others... if he comes back as an 'other' he's essentially a spy behind enemy lines... The Starks also paid a savage price... 'Blood and fire' (burning of Neds father - which caused the old gods and Rhollor to unite...) so the children were sent the Direwolves for protection and have been trained ready to make war on the Great other (Robb died because he fought the wrong war, as did Ned, Robert B and numerous others...). We don't really know why Rhaegar appointed Ser Gregor... but based on this assumption i would say he didn't understand the cost of what he was doing... or how evil Gregor really is... when given the opportunity (i.e. Tywin not saying ... "bring the babies and Elia ALIVE") ... i guess the gods were all over it like ants at a picnic... since the only way to break a prophecy is to kill the individual concerned (e.g. like how stallion who mounts the world prophecy ended) ... I know this makes me sound like i'm assuming Gregor is a servant of the great Other... (or maybe is the great Other) ... but i do think that must be the case... the headaches may be part of the explanation... but however it works... Gregor - under his own free will - killed the Prince who was Promised