Rhaegar Targaryen

"Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly. And Rhaegar died."

- Jorah Mormont

Prince Rhaegar Targaryen was the eldest son and heir to King Aerys II Targaryen, holding the title of Prince of Dragonstone. He was the older brother of Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen and husband of Elia Martell, with whom he had two children: Rhaenys and Aegon Targaryen.

Secretly, however, his marriage to Elia had been annulled and he remarried Lyanna Stark. Rhaegar's alleged "abduction" of Lyanna sparked off Robert's Rebellion, as Lyanna had already been betrothed to Robert Baratheon. Robert killed Rhaegar in personal combat at the climactic Battle of the Trident, and then deposed the Targaryen dynasty. Lyanna's brother Eddard Stark found her soon afterwards, however, dying from childbirth to Rhaegar's son and heir. To protect the child from Robert and others who sought the destruction of House Targaryen, Eddard passed him off as his bastard son that he fathered during the war: "Jon Snow".

Background
Prince Rhaegar Targaryen was the eldest son and heir to the Mad King, Aerys II Targaryen, by his sister-wife Queen Rhaella Targaryen. For three centuries, the Targaryens had continued to incestuously marry brother to sister "to keep the bloodline pure", in the tradition of their Valyrian ancestors. Over time, however, this massive inbreeding led to a strain of insanity appearing in the Targaryen bloodline - culminating in Rhaegar's father, Aerys II, who is best remembered as the Mad King. Aerys II's reign began with great promise, but as the years passed, he slid deeper and deeper into insanity and paranoia. The shift was gradual and he frequently recovered: by the time it became severe, Prince Rhaegar already showed such great promise as the future heir to the throne that most were willing to simply put up with Aerys's eccentricities, to wait out the remainder of his reign until Rhaegar succeeded him. Rhaegar was brave, kind, and wise and most looked forward to the golden era that would assuredly begin when he took the throne. Greatly troubled by Aerys II's growing insanity, Rhaegar was torn between whether to act against him or not, but could not bring himself to turn against his own father. Like the rest of the realm, Rhaegar hoped to simply wait out the rest of his father's reign, and that his bouts of insanity would remain manageable by his courtiers.

Rhaegar had good reason to think that the Small Council could keep the realm together despite his father's madness, as it was very capably led by Tywin Lannister, who served as Aerys's Hand of the King for nearly twenty years. Tywin was not only able to keep Aerys from tearing the realm apart, but managed royal affairs so well that he brought two decades of peace and plenty for Westeros, to the point that most people throughout the realm were unaware of the king's madness until the final years of his reign. Because Aerys and his sister-wife had produced no daughters for Rhaegar to wed, he had to look outside the family for a bride. Many assumed that in reward for Tywin's long and distinguished service as Aerys's chief advisor, the bond between the Targaryens and Lannisters would eventually be solidified with a marriage-alliance between Prince Rhaegar and Tywin's daughter Cersei (particularly, Cersei herself, who for a time was quite infatuated with the Crown Prince). Yet Aerys surprisingly spurned the match, saying that Tywin was still just a servant and shouldn't try to elevate his family above its station, as such a match was beneath Rhaegar. It was later believed that Aerys did this in a fit of paranoia that Tywin was trying to usurp him. Despite everything Tywin had done for him in two decades of loyal service, Aerys had grown resentful and fearful that many people throughout the realm whispered - accurately - that Tywin was the real power behind the throne by that point. Alienating his greatest ally Tywin, Aerys instead agreed to an arranged marriage between Rhaegar and Elia Martell of Dorne (who was a distant cousin of the royal line through intermarriage a century before). Rhaegar produced two young children with Elia Martell: first a daughter named Rhaenys, and then a son named Aegon. A few years later, the great Tourney of Harrenhal was held, where all the prominent lords of Westeros assembled. During the feast, Rhaegar played a song with his harp so beautiful and sorrowful that it moved even the wild she-wolf Lyanna Stark to tears. The exact events that happened in private are unknown, but the public events at the tourney's final joust are known to all: Rhaegar faced off against Ser Barristan Selmy in the final tilt, and won. Instead of then giving the victor's wreath to his own wife Elia Martell, however, the entire crowd of hundreds of people fell silent as he rode past her and gave it to Lyanna Stark, to name her as the tournament's Queen of Love and Beauty. This was doubly controversial, as Lyanna was herself already betrothed to marry Robert Baratheon. At the same tourney, King Aerys also announced that he was naming young Jaime Lannister to the Kingsguard - while he was a very skilled swordsman, Aerys really appointed him to the order to rob Tywin of his eldest son and heir (as Kingsguard foreswear all right to inheritance), and treat him as a glorified political hostage at the royal court, should Tywin ever turn against him. Tywin was infuriated, as he had been grooming Jaime for years to succeed him as ruler of House Lannister, and by law, Jaime's removal meant that the next in line to inherit Casterly Rock would be Tywin's hated dwarf son Tyrion. Tywin promptly resigned as Hand of the King, and withdrew from King's Landing back to Casterly Rock.

About a year after the tourney, under as-yet unknown circumstances, Rhaegar allegedly abducted Lyanna. Unknown to all, Lyanna had actually fallen in love with Rhaegar, and they ran off together to the Red Mountains of Dorne, and stayed a private castle retreat known as the Tower of Joy. Rhaegar clandestinely arranged for the High Septon to grant him an annulment from Elia Martell, then personally officiate his secret re-marriage to Lyanna.

Lyanna's eldest brother Brandon then rode to King's Landing to demand the return of his sister, but King Aerys imprisoned him. When their father Rickard went south to demand his son's release, he was imprisoned as well. The Mad King then brutally executed both of them by burning Lord Rickard alive with wildfire in front of the Iron Throne and baited Brandon into strangling himself to death in an effort to save his father. In response, Eddard Stark and Lyanna's betrothed Robert Baratheon, joined forces with several other houses to overthrow the Targaryen dynasty.

This war became known as Robert's Rebellion (or the "War of the Usurper" to Targaryen loyalists). To the confusion of many, Rhaegar's location remained unknown during most of the war, which lasted about a year: as Robert Baratheon's rebel army fought its way up from Storm's End through the Reach and the Riverlands, and then up to the Trident, Rhaegar was nowhere to be seen. For months, it seems he stayed in seclusion with Lyanna at the Tower of Joy in Dorne. During this early phase of the rebellion, Aerys II continued to think of Robert Baratheon as just an outlaw lord, but after he defeated all of the local royal armies thrown at him and crossed north of the Trident, Aerys finally realized that this was the worst revolt the Targaryens had faced in over a century. Around the same time, Rhaegar suddenly returned to the royal court at King's Landing to lead the crown's armies. Both sides now mobilized the full might of their forces: Robert led his rebel army south (composed of Baratheon, Stark, Tully, and Arryn forces) while Rhaegar led the royal army north to meet him (composed of the Targaryen armies raised from the Crownlands, supplemented by another 10,000 from Dorne). Accompanying Rhaegar were two of the Kingsguard, Barristan Selmy and Lewyn Martell (uncle of Rhaegar's wife Elia). On the way, Rhaegar privately confided to Barristan that after they won, there would be "many changes" at the royal court upon his return - alluding that he intended to depose his father for his crimes and instability, and try to restore peace with the Great Houses of the realm. Rhaegar and Robert's forces finally clashed at the climactic Battle of the Trident, at the crossing of the Kingsroad over the river (not far from the Inn at the Crossroads). Rhaegar's army was fresh and slightly larger, but Robert's was more battle-hardened, and they slowly gained ground. Rhaegar and Robert spotted each other across the battlefield and rode out to fight, resulting in an epic duel which raged for hours as the battle dragged on around them. Robert finally killed Rhaegar with a mighty blow from his war hammer, which caved in Rhaegar's breastplate. His armor had been studded with red rubies, which where sent flying through the ford in the river - which ever since became known as the "Ruby Ford". Their leader killed, the Targaryen army collapsed, and the rebels were victorious. With Rhaegar's death, the Targaryen cause was doomed: most of their supporters had been fighting for Rhaegar, not the Mad King, so after he died most either surrendered or switched sides (not to mention that the main Targaryen army had been destroyed at the Trident). The rebel army continued unopposed south to King's Landing - but Tywin Lannister's army arrived there first. Tywin had kept the Lannisters neutral throughout most of the war, and only made the calculated decision to side with the rebels after it became obvious they would win, to curry favor with Robert and his allies after the war ended. Tywin feigned that he had brought his army to help Aerys in his time of greatest need, but as soon as they were let inside the gates of King's Landing, the Lannister army promptly began to brutally sack the entire city. Rhaegar's father the Mad King was himself killed by his own Kingsguard, Tywin's son Jaime Lannister (to stop him from enacting the Wildfire plot to burn down the city). Meanwhile, Lannister soldiers gained entry into the Red Keep: Ser Gregor Clegane, known as "the Mountain that Rides", cornered Rhaegar's wife Elia and her two small children in the royal apartments. Gregor killed Rhaenys and baby Aegon while their mother Elia watched helplessly, then raped Elia, before killing her too.

Shortly before the sack, Rhaegar's heavily pregnant mother Queen Rhaella had been sent to safety on Dragonstone island, along with his younger brother Viserys. Not long after they arrived, however, Rhaella died giving birth to Rhaegar's posthumous younger sister, Daenerys Targaryen. Viserys and his newborn sister then fled into exile in the Free Cities, across the Narrow Sea, before Robert's soldiers could arrive on the island. Lyanna Stark did not survive much longer than Rhaegar: after arriving at King's Landing in the aftermath of the sack, her brother Eddard rode south with his companions searching for her, before finding her at the Tower of Joy in the western mountains of Dorne, protected by the last of the Targaryen Kingsguard, the legendary Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Gerold Hightower, who had secretly been ordered by Rhaegar himself to keep her (and her unborn child) safe. Eddard and his companions fought them in an epic confrontation, at the end of which all were dead except for himself and the wounded Howland Reed.

Eddard raced inside only to find that Lyanna was dying from childbirth, to Rhaegar's last child and heir. With her last breathes, she told Eddard of her secret marriage to Rhaegar, and that their son's name was was "Aegon Targaryen". Lyanna made Eddard promise to keep him safe, because if Robert ever found out that Rhaegar had a surviving heir, he would kill him - not least of which because, as Rhaegar's lawful son, he was the real legitimate heir to the Iron Throne, ahead of Rhaegar's younger siblings. Eddard departed with Rhaegar and Lyanna's newborn son and took him back to Winterfell, where he passed him off as his own bastard son fathered on campaign: "Jon Snow".

Season 1
When King Robert Baratheon arrives at Winterfell, he immediately goes with Lord Eddard Stark to see Lyanna Stark's grave in the crypts beneath the castle. Robert tells Eddard that he kills Rhaegar every night in his dreams. Eddard tries to assure Robert that he already killed Rhaegar, but Robert laments that he could only kill him once. Looking nervous, Eddard tells Robert that the Targaryens are dead now, but Robert points out not all of them are - implying he will keep hunting down the younger Targaryen children until their family is totally eradicated. Robert also mentions Rhaegar when arguing with Ned over the morality of having Daenerys assassinated, using what Rhaegar Targaryen did to Lyanna as ammunition for his claim.

When Daenerys successfully consumes a stallion's heart and the Dosh khaleen declare her unborn son to be the Stallion Who Mounts the World, Daenerys confirms this, and declares that he will be named Rhaego in honor of her brother.

When Jon Snow hears about his "father" Eddard Stark's imprisonment, Maester Aemon reveals his Targaryen heritage to him and recounts the deaths of his great-nephew Rhaegar and his children, who unbeknownst to them both were Jon's true father and half-siblings.

When Bran Stark shows Osha the tombs under Winterfell, he gives a quick summary of the events leading to the civil war: how Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna, who was betrothed to Robert Baratheon, and the Mad King then killed Lyanna's brother and father, triggering the war. Robert killed Rhaegar in battle, but Lyanna died anyway.

Season 3
When Daenerys Targaryen considers the possibility of buying Unsullied to employ as her army in her quest to win the Iron Throne, Ser Barristan Selmy pleads her not to do it. He recounts how, as a Kingsguard, he knew Rhaegar and fought beside him at the Battle of the Trident, and that day men fought and died for Rhaegar because they believed in him and loved him. Ser Jorah Mormont counters that Rhaegar fought bravely and honorably, but perished nonetheless. Daenerys asks Barristan if he knew Rhaegar well: he responds that he did, and Rhaegar was the finest man he ever knew - the last dragon. Daenerys is saddened, as Rhaegar died before she was born, and says she wishes she had known him - but he was not the last dragon (she is).

Season 4
While conversing with Tyrion Lannister shortly after his arrival to King's Landing for the upcoming wedding of Joffrey Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell, Prince Oberyn Martell, Elia's younger brother, shows his ire toward Rhaegar for leaving his sister (after she bore his children) "for another woman" (Lyanna Stark).

Season 5
On her way to her father's funeral at the Great Sept of Baelor, Cersei recalls when she was a young teenager before Robert's Rebellion, and visited a woods witch known as Maggy to predict her future. Young Cersei asks Maggy if she will marry the Prince as her father desired. Maggy answers that she will not, but she will marry the King. Around the same time, Daenerys visits her imprisoned dragons, calling Rhaegal, the second child she has named after her brother, by name.

Barristan Selmy shares some of his memories of Rhaegar with his sister Daenerys in Meereen. She is pleasantly surprised to discover that Rhaegar was more than the great killer that Viserys made him out to be. Selmy tells her how Rhaegar used to disguise himself as a minstrel and play on the streets of King's Landing while Ser Barristan stood guard. Rhaegar made quite a tidy profit on these excursions, and although he once spent the money on getting himself and Selmy very, very drunk, he usually gave the money away to other minstrels or to orphanages. Barristan mentions that Rhaegar never liked killing but instead loved singing.

Around the same time, Petyr Baelish recounts the events of the Tourney at Harrenhal to Sansa Stark while visiting Lyanna's tomb in the crypts below Winterfell. He was just a small boy in the entourage of the Tullys at the time, but he saw what the entire huge crowd did: after defeating Ser Barristan in the final tilt, Rhaegar rode past his wife Elia Martell and gave the victor's crown of flowers to Lyanna Stark, naming her the tournament's Queen of Love and Beauty. Baelish recalls how the entire crowd of hundreds of people fell silent at this shocking action. He then muses how Robert's Rebellion broke out because both Robert and Rhaegar wanted Lyanna, and wonders how many people died because Rhaegar chose Lyanna that day. Sansa then accuses that Rhaegar "chose" her aunt Lyanna, then kidnapped and raped her - to which Littlefinger silently gives a wry look, as if he doubts that, but doesn't explain further.

Season 6
Through a series of visions, Bran Stark, Lyanna's nephew, witnesses the showdown that took place at the Tower of Joy, and learns that his "half-brother", Jon Snow, is actually Rhaegar's son by Bran's aunt Lyanna, and that his father, Eddard, passed him off as his bastard son in order to protect him from Robert, who would have surely killed him if he ever found out. Before his death at the climax of the showdown, Ser Arthur told Eddard that Rhaegar had ordered them to remain at the Tower of Joy, but he did not specify why.

Season 7
Daenerys tells Jon that both Viserion and Rhaegal were named for her deceased brothers, neither of them yet aware that Rhaegar was secretly Jon's biological father, or that this means Jon is really her nephew.

At The Citadel in Oldtown, Gilly is reading through the private diary of the High Septon during Robert's Rebellion, and points out to Samwell Tarly an entry saying that the High Septon clandestinely gave Rhaegar an annulment from Elia Martell, then married him to someone else in a secret ceremony in Dorne. At the time, Samwell doesn't know the significance of this discovery.

Samwell and Gilly subsequently leave Oldtown, and later arrive in Winterfell. Sam meets with Bran Stark, who informs Sam that he has learned from his visions that Jon isn't really Eddard Stark's son, but the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. Bran thinks his real name shouldn't even be "Snow" but "Sand", the special surname used for bastards born in Dorne. This makes Samwell, however, realize the significance of the High Septon's diary entry about Rhaegar's secret second marriage, and he asks the skeptical Bran if he can use his powers to check what really happened. Using his Greensight, Bran looks back through time again to see the secret wedding of Rhaegar and Lyanna in front of a Weirwood Heart tree. With joy in her eyes, Lyanna lovingly kisses Rhaegar. Stunned, Bran explains to Sam that Robert's Rebellion was built on a lie: Rhaegar didn't kidnap and rape Lyanna, she loved him. Their secret marriage also means that Jon Snow is in fact Rhaegar's lawful son, and the real rightful heir to the Iron Throne (ahead of Rhaegar's younger sister Daenerys). Bran then finally recalls Jon's birth name, whispered to Ned Stark with Lyanna's dying breath: "Aegon Targaryen".

Appearances

 * Bran's flashback vision

Personality
Before his alleged abduction of Lyanna Stark, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen is said to have been a very popular figure in the Seven Kingdoms in contrast to his erratic father, King Aerys. Despite the superb skills he displayed while participating in the Great Tourney at Harrenhal, where he mysteriously crowned Lyanna as the Queen of Love and Beauty instead of his own wife Elia Martell. Ser Barristan Selmy (whom Rhaegar had unhorsed in the final joust) described Rhaegar as a peaceful man who much preferred singing over fighting and killing. Rhaegar was certainly highly skilled in combat, being able to wound Robert Baratheon during their fateful duel during the Battle of the Trident, but nonetheless he was also a very compassionate young man, as evidenced by the fact that, when he went out to sing in Flea Bottom, he would give the money to the next minstrel on the street, or to an orphanage; there was one exception, where Barristan and Rhaegar got horribly drunk on the money they made, but this could be an example that Rhaegar considered the men following him to be his friends as well. The upshot of this is that Rhaegar loved his people almost as much as they loved him.

Rhaegar was a highly intelligent person who loved to read, so much that he was late into his decision to take up swordsmanship. He was an extremely charismatic man, shown by the fact that those who followed him were loyal to him and some believed him to be the finest man they ever met. However, this loyalty would come as a cost to some people, including Rhaegar himself. For example, Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Gerold Hightower did not accompany Rhaegar at the Battle of the Trident because Rhaegar had ordered them to stay at the Tower of Joy and guard Lyanna thus Rhaegar had ultimately doomed them to die at the hands of Lyanna's brother, Eddard.

Although Rhaegar proved to have been admirable enough that a great many men followed him to defeat at the Trident because they believed in him and his cause, there were those, mainly Robert Baratheon, who viewed Rhaegar as an evil man. This is probably a biased opinion, since Robert was plunged into depression by the loss of the woman he claimed to love, and the common theory that Rhaegar abducted her made him a cruel man in Robert's mind. Oberyn Martell also had an unfavorable view of Rhaegar for running off with Lyanna and leaving his sister, Elia. Also, Viserys Targaryen, Rhaegar's younger brother, thought that Rhaegar loved to kill people, derived from the basis that he was a great warrior, leading to Daenerys developing the same assumption. However, Daenerys would eventually hear a dramatically different account from Ser Barristan about Rhaegar, saying that her brother was peaceful man who never liked killing.

Rhaegar was very different from his father Aerys, and did not express the bloodthirst, obsession or pyromania that Aerys had done, therefore he presumably did not suffer the Targaryen madness that his family was legendary for. Although it was largely his father's brutal execution of Rickard and Brandon Stark that turned half the realm against the Targaryens and led to the deaths of tens of thousands, it can be argued that Rhaegar and Lyanna were not without blame. Despite their apparent love for each other, the fact remains that they left without making their intentions known to anyone or making a clean break with those who would be affected the most, Elia and Robert. They might have realized their mistake when Rhaegar's father killed Lyanna's father and brother, and Rhaegar may have hoped to end the rebellion without having to kill Lyanna's other brother Eddard, or Robert, to whom Rhaegar was somehow related (which could explain why the latter ultimately killed him instead). Yet whatever plans Rhaegar had for restoring Targaryen rule over the Seven Kingdoms, despite the blowback that resulted due to his and Lyanna's aforementioned actions, ultimately died with him. His other two children, Rhaenys and Aegon, also ultimately perished due to their romance.

It is uncertain whether Rhaegar's relationship with his wife Elia Martell was loving. Oberyn Martell expressed disdain towards Rhaegar for "leaving her for another woman" (Lyanna) and insisted that Elia loved her husband dearly, but despite Elia having born him two children, it is never stated in the series whether Rhaegar truly returned her love. However, the fact that he publicly chose Lyanna over Elia at the tournament and later had their marriage annulled implies he did not.

Quotes
"In my dreams, I kill him every night."

- Robert Baratheon shows his undying hatred of Rhaegar.

"Your brother Rhaegar was the last dragon."

- Jorah Mormont to Daenerys Targaryen

"When your brother Rhaegar led his army into battle at the Trident, men died for him because they believed in him, because they loved him. I fought beside the last dragon on that day, your Grace. I bled beside him."

- Ser Barristan Selmy to Daenerys

"The last time I was in the capital was many years ago. Another wedding. My sister Elia and Rhaegar Targaryen, the last dragon. My sister loved him. She bore his children. Swaddled them, rocked them, fed them at her own breast, Elia wouldn't let the wet nurse touch them. And beautiful, noble Rhaegar Targaryen...left her for another woman."

- Oberyn Martell shows his ire toward Rhaegar.

"He needs to know the truth. About himself. No one knows, no one but me. Jon isn't really my father's son. He's the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and my aunt Lyanna Stark."

- Bran Stark reveals to Samwell Tarly that Rhaegar is Jon's father.

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Rhaegar is depicted as a chivalrous, honorable, and just warrior - albeit one often distracted by other concerns, and apparently unable or unwilling to restrain the worst excesses of his father as he slipped into insanity. Rhaegar was well-loved by the commoners and many lords who knew him.

Rhaegar had silver-gold hair and dark indigo eyes, and was considered to be tall and handsome. He is younger brother Viserys Targaryen later grew to closely resemble him in his features, though he was a poor copy - shorter and more spindly than Rhaegar, with lilac eyes. Cersei Lannister, who was infatuated with him, remembers Rhaegar as the most beautiful man she had ever seen.

Rhaegar was born at Summerhall, the same night as the mysterious Tragedy at Summerhall, a fire caused in unclear circumstances, which claimed the lives of old King Aegon V Targaryen, his loyal Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Duncan the Tall, and many others. The marriage of Rhaegar's parents was not a happy one, as it had been arranged by their own father Jaehaerys II (cut from the TV continuity). In Targaryen tradition, Aerys II married his own sister Rhaella, an incestuous match to "keep the bloodline pure". It was rumored that Jaehaerys II forced the match because he had heard a prophecy from a woods witch that the Prince That Was Promised would be born of their bloodline.

Rhaegar was very bookish in his youth, so that people jested that Queen Rhaella must have swallowed some books and a candle while he was in her womb. As a boy, he was able to impress the maesters with his wit. He only became a warrior after reading something that changed his outlook, and from then on pursued his martial training with as much dedication as his studies. Years later, Viserys told Daenerys that Arthur Dayne was the only knight in the realm who was Rhaegar's peer; this turned out, however, to be another of Viserys's poorly informed exaggerations. Barristan Selmy later assured Daenerys, as gently as he could, that her eldest brother was a very highly skilled warrior, but he was not the invincible knight Viserys claimed he was. Rhaegar was nonetheless a very skilled knight, and was capable of unhorsing even Barristan himself in the joust. Still, Rhaegar's great love was always reading and music, preferring the harp to the lance, and he rarely participated in tournaments.

King Aerys's madness worsened with every passing year, compounded by the stress from a series of dead children with Queen Rhaella after Rhaegar but before Viserys: three miscarriages, two stillbirths, and three other infant sons who died in the cradle. Aerys also had many mistresses, and he lusted after Tywin's wife Joanna Lannister. Nonetheless, Aerys started hypocritically blaming his wife for their dead children, accusing that such weak pregnancies must have been fathered by some other, lesser man. In time Aerys became physically abusive to Rhaegar's mother, and from her screams it was an open secret in the Red Keep that he raped her on several occasions. All of this added to Rhaegar's grief and inner turmoil.

Overall, Rhaegar is described as having a kind but melancholic personality, tormented by his father's growing insanity. Sorrow was never far behind him, and he frequently brooded alone on the grief in his heart. It is said that with his harp and singing, pouring out his internal anguish, he could bring entire rooms of people to tears - even the wild she-wolf Lyanna Stark.

Apparently, Rhaegar read some prophecy in an arcane book about The Prince That Was Promised, who would save the world from the return of the White Walkers. For a time, it seems that Rhaegar thought he himself was the Prince, but later he apparently thought it would be his children: noting that "the dragon has three heads" (referring to the Targaryen sigil), he seems to have been convinced that the prophecy about "the" Prince actually referred to three people acting together: the Targaryens had first conquered and united Westeros when led by three dragon-riders: Aegon I and his two sister-wives, Rhaenys and Visenya. Rhaegar even named his first two children after the original trio of the Targaryen Conquest generation: first his daughter Rhaenys, then his son Aegon (though in the original trio, Visenya was actually the eldest, Rhaenys the youngest). Unfortunately, the health of Rhaegar's wife Elia Martell suffered greatly during her first two pregnancies, and the maesters warned that she would not survive an attempt to have a third child. This may have encouraged Rhaegar to try to fulfill the prophecy by having a third child with another woman.

The rumors that Rhaegar had a homosexual affair with his closest friend Jon Connington have never been substantiated. Connington does seem to have been romantically infatuated with Rhaegar, but it unknown if Rhaegar ever returned his affections in a night of passion.

Rhaegar's reasons for kidnapping Lyanna Stark remain a mystery to both his supporters and his detractors, but the entire realm knows that they first met at a great tourney at Harrenhal in the Year of the False Spring. A full year later, Rhaegar and two knights of the Kingsguard fell upon Lyanna in the Riverlands and took her to a secure location - eventually revealed to be a hidden redoubt in the Red Mountains of Dorne, the Tower of Joy. This set in motion the rapid chain of events that led to Robert's Rebellion.

When Rhaegar returned to the capital to take command of the royal army and lead them into battle, Jaime Lannister - who had become quite appalled by the Mad King's actions - begged Rhaegar to take him along. Rhaegar refused but promised Jaime that "changes would be made" once the rebellion had been crushed, which he wished he had made sooner (perhaps Rhaegar meant to finally depose his lunatic father).

Rhaegar and Robert Baratheon engaged in an epic duel at the Battle of the Trident, ending when Robert caved in Rhaegar's breastplate with his war hammer. Fan art of this event frequently forgets that both of them were mounted on horses, not on foot - at least at first, as it is also said that Rhaegar "sank to his knees" when he died. In the second novel, Daenerys has two magical visions of Rhaegar at the House of the Undying in Qarth, one of which is of his death: "Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a woman’s name." - strongly implying that his dying word was "Lyanna". The surviving prisoners from the Targaryen side of the battle (among them Barristan Selmy) begged Robert to grant Rhaegar a proper funeral: Robert still hated Rhaegar with an all-consuming passion, but even he would not dishonor himself by refusing to grant such a basic request, and so Rhaegar's body was cremated (as per Targaryen custom, in the tradition of their Valyrian ancestors).

Daenerys's second vision of Rhaegar in the House of the Undying was of a man resembling Viserys but taller than him, with dark indigo eyes, and a woman nursing a newborn babe in a great wooden bed. They were confirmed by George R.R. Martin to be Rhaegar, Elia, and their infant son Aegon (not Jon Snow). In the vision, Rhaegar holds baby Aegon and proclaims that he is the Prince That Was Promised, and "His is the song of ice and fire. There must be one more. The dragon has three heads." - so far, the only point in the entire novel series that its title "A Song of Ice and Fire" has been mentioned in the text.

With Rhaegar's death, the Targaryen cause was lost, and the remaining great lords of the realm abandoned the Mad King. Tywin Lannister's army rushed to the capital city ahead of Robert's, entered the city under a flag of friendship, and then promptly turned on the defenders once inside the city gates, leading to the brutal Sack of King's Landing. In the books, Amory Lorch killed Rhaegar's daughter Rhaenys, while Gregor Clegane killed his infant son Aegon, and then raped and killed Aegon's mother Elia Martell. The TV series condensed this to simply say that Gregor killed both children.

The current five novels have not yet explained exactly what happened at the Tower of Joy, when Eddard found his dying sister Lyanna - nor have they specifically revealed that he found Lyanna dying from childbirth, along with the infant Jon Snow (though the implication is very strong ever since the first novel). Lyanna's dying words were "Promise me, Ned" - words that continue to replay in his mind years afterwards, though exactly what he promised has never been revealed (i.e. just to keep her son safe, or to one day reveal his real identity, etc.).