Prince Rhaegar Targaryen

• General Notes
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    Eldest son of Aerys II, Rhaegar was the Prince of Dragonstone, heir-apparent to the Iron Throne. As he is deceased, almost all information on Rhaegar comes second-hand, through the thoughts, recollections and tales of others.
    
    An intelligent, handsome, brooding and melancholy man, Rhaegar kept his thoughts closely guarded.  While all knew of him -- Cersei once commented that when the Targaryens came to Casterly Rock, the smallfolk cheered for Lord Tywin Lannister twice as much as for King Aerys, but only half as loudly as for Rhaegar -- few really knew Rhaegar.  He had few real friends, among them Ser Arthur Dayne, Myles Mootan, Richard Lonmouth & Lord Connington.
    
    As a child, Rhaegar was bookish to a fault.  He took no interest in the play of other children until he found and read something that changed him -- then he decided that he must be a warrior.  At seventeen he was knighted, and from all reports he grew into a highly skilled and capable fighter.
    
    Rhaegar took little joy in fighting however:  Barristan Selmy once remarked that Rhaegar loved his harp more than he loved his lance.   He once rode brilliantly in a tourney at Storm's End, defeating Lord Steffon Baratheon, Lord Jason Mallister, and the Red Viper of Dorne.  That day, he broke a dozen lances against Ser Arthur Dayne, but he lost the tournament to another knight of the Kingsguard .
    
    Rhaegar was born on the same day as the Tragedy at Summerhall, and he often liked to visit the ruined hall for solitude, disappearing with only his harp for company and emerging weeks later with new compositions of surpassing beauty and melancholy.  Rhaegar was champion at the tourney at Harrenhal, the only time he ever won a tourney. He shocked those present at the tourney by passing over his wife, the Dornish princess Elia of Dorne, when selecting the Queen of Love and Beauty.
    
    Instead, he crowned Lyanna Stark, a noblewoman of the North, by giving her the crown of winter roses. Rhaegar later disappeared with Lyanna, an act that many people, including Lyanna's family and her betrothed Robert Baratheon, viewed as a kidnapping.  While the exact nature of their relationship is not currently known, outrage over the act ultimately triggered the War of the Usurper. Rhaegar was killed by Robert during that conflict at the Battle of the Trident.
    
    Rhaeger's wife, Elia Martell, bore him two children, a girl named Rhaenys and an infant son, Aegon. The princess and her two children were murdered by Ser Gregor Clegane and Ser Amory Lorch during the Sack of King's Landing, under Tywin Lannister's orders.
    
    Though King Robert has vilified Rhaegar, most others have expressed admiration for him, including Robert's best friend Ned Stark. Ser Barristan Selmy has stated that Rhaegar is still remembered in Westeros with great love. His younger sister Daenerys Targaryen is sometimes compared to him as a compliment. Maester Aemon remembered that Rhaegar believed his child, Aegon, to be the 'Prince Who Was Promised'.