Aerys ordered Lyannas kidnap...

[Irelands Gemstone]

This thead has a little background to it.

Aerys was a paranoid individual after duskendale, both Barristan and Jamie have told us this.

He was under the impression (not wrong in that belief I might add, in my opinion) that some of the great lords had formed a conspiracy against him ---- Starks, Baratheons, Tully and the Arynn doing things that no other house had ever done before, intermarry to such an extent, Stark to Tully, then Tully to Arynn with both Stark and Baratheon fostered by Arynn.

This fueled his paranoia, as the only houses not involved, were those he had hostages for (Jamie in kingsguard, Elia being Rhaegars wife)

I believe Aerys, in his paranoia, once he discovered the betrothals of all the great houses together, thought along the lines of 'well, I can keep the rest of the houses in line with hostages, why not try it again' and ordered his son, his most trusted general to kidnap the glue holding the alliance together, Lyanna. It would separate Stark from Tully, meaning Stark had no direct links to any of the great houses. If the alliance rebelled, it would be 3 against the other 4.

It was pretty genius. cemented by the fact there was now only one man who could bring the 4 house alliance back into play, Robert Baratheon, who could be married to Lyanna, in his care, but just to be safe he demanded Robs and Neds heads (a little later) anyway.

His major 'I was right!' moment is when Brandon rides into the Red Keep demanding that Rhaeger 'come out and die' he captures Brandon and Neds father, Rickard goes to fetch him, Aerys sees that burning them alive is obviously the best way to make sure they dont re-form a great 4 house alliance, burns them alive.

Jon Arynn, had he complied with Aerys demands like a good lord paramount, handing both boys over when they were seperated from their houses bannermen, would have made Aerys plotting go masterfully, but he didnt. Instead he betrothed Lyanna to Robert, meaning the 4 house alliance came back in a circle, and this time with a vengance.

Que epic rebellion and voila, Aerys is dead, after having seen most of what would transpire a great deal earlier, and if he had done nothing, well he would still be dead, because their was a conspiracy.

Discuss, please.

[TalalOfDorne]

Sorry, but I still dont understand how does Lyanna end the Stark-Tully marriage?

[Irelands Gemstone]

It dosent break the Stark-Tully marriage, it breaks the union of 4 great houses, eg. a majority rebellion. If 3 houses rebel, Aerys has 4 to put it down with theoretically. He was mad and paranoid at the time remember.

[WatcherOnTheWall]

I still don't get how Lyanna is the key to all of this. Brandon was to marry Cat, while Robert and Ned were almost like brothers under the tutelage of Jon Arryn. The fact that Lyanna was betrothed to Robert was not going to make or break the alliances, and as proved by the rebellion Lyanna's capture would only strengthened their resolve to fight together.

[Mladen]

It dosent break the Stark-Tully marriage, it breaks the union of 4 great houses, eg. a majority rebellion. If 3 houses rebel, Aerys has 4 to put it down with theoretically. He was mad and paranoid at the time remember.

Thing is that Rhaegar also participated in those negotiations, as were Mace Tyrell, Tywin Lannister and even some Dornish lords. IF Harrenhall were indeed cover-up for mutiny, then I can`t see how Rhaegar would turn against allies.

[Irelands Gemstone]

Maybe it didnt happen at the main negotiations at Harrenhall, The tourney is just a possibility - I honestly dont think even Rickard saw that Jon Arynn could have entered fully into the alliance, I think it was a bit of a long shot having them fostered, maybe just to generate sympathy over the crown. Im not saying Lyanna was, but to a paranoid Aerys, Lyanna would have looked like the glue to the alliance, he counted on Jon Arynns loyalty remember, not that he would side with the rebels, thats why he sent a letter demanding his fealty as a vassal, to deliver Robert and Neds heads to Kings Landing.

[A Man Has Said]

Surely Aerys would have known that marriage alliances have been going on between noble families as far back as there have been noble families in Westeros. Surely the Targaryens were doing the same thing, so how could he not know?

I know you explain his reaction by citing his well-documented paranoia, but the premise still seems far-fetched to me. It's too much like getting angry with someone for breathing on the same continent as you.

[Irelands Gemstone]

Marriage alliances have been done before, but never to this extent. 4 Houses have never intermingled in the same generation before. It could have even been noticed by Rhaeger, omitting Aerys entirely, constituting his leaving words "when I return, there will be changes my friend" most people assume that Rhaegar himself was planning to depose Aerys.