Game of Thrones: Secret Targaryen/Stark Marriage Explained

As Game of Thrones' seventh season begins its march to what will no doubt be a shocking conclusion, the fate of the Seven Kingdoms is being decided by the fire of dragons, the clash of swords, and perhaps even the blade of a Valyrian steel dagger. However, the balance of power in Westeros may well be ripped asunder by what's in an old book. In the medieval world of Westeros, more people know how to swing a sword than read a book, much less have access to the volumes of history about the Seven Kingdoms that have been recorded. Those that do have access and are able to read, such as the Maesters of the Citadel in Oldtown, possess a different and equally vital kind of power: knowledge.Though she's a wildling who can't fight, Gilly (Hannah Murray) gained more power than most people in Westeros when Sam Tarly (John Bradley-West) taught her how to read. Sam traveled to Oldtown to become a Maester specifically so he could discover a way to defeat the White Walkers. Thanks to Gilly, Sam will now return to Winterfell possessing the truth about the parents and true heritage of Jon Snow (Kit Harington), which has the potential to completely upend what everyone has believed about who has the right to sit upon the Iron Throne.One of the most important and pivotal characters in the saga of Game of Thrones is someone audiences have only heard a few mentions of but have never seen: Rhaegar Targaryen. Rhaegar's past deeds, and the long buried secrets of his marriage record discovered by Gilly in this week's episode "Eastwatch," will have a monumental impact on the future of the Seven Kingdoms and the two Queens, Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) and Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), currently at war over who has the right to sit upon the Iron Throne.But first, a refresher on just who the mysterious Rhaegar Targaryen was and why he has now become more important than ever to the unfolding drama of Game of Thrones:

THE PRINCE OF DRAGONSTONE

Rhaegar Targaryen was the eldest son of the Mad King Aerys and Queen Rhaella Targeryen. Known as the Prince of Dragonstone, he was the older brother of Viserys and Daenerys Stormborn. Rhaegar was married to Elia Martell of Dorne, and together they had two children: Rhaenys and Aegon. This is Rhaegar's immediate family tree as recognized across Westeros, but as we'll soon learn, there is more to Rhaegar's past than meets the eye.

At the conclusion of Robert's Rebellion, the war which ended the Targaryen dynasty roughly two decades before the first season of Game of Thrones, Jaime Lannister slew the Mad King. Elia Martell and Rhaegar's two children were in King's Landing when Tywin Lannister's forces sacked the city; Gregor Clegane AKA The Mountain murdered Rhaenys and Aegon before raping and killing Elia. Meanwhile, a pregnant Queen Rhaella and Viserys were safely on Dragonstone. After Rhaella died giving birth to Daenerys, loyalists to the Targaryens then brought Viserys and the infant Daenerys across the Narrow Sea to Essos to live in exile lest they be killed by the new regime usurping the Iron Throne.

As for Rhaegar himself, he met Robert Baratheon in the decisive battle at the Trident. Robert bashed in Rhaegar's chest with his war hammer and killed him. With the heir to the Iron Throne slain, Robert Baratheon became King. And, because history is written by the victors, the version of events established by the triumphant Baratheons and Starks is the history that took hold across the Seven Kingdoms. However, the accepted story about what Rhaegar Targaryen did to spark Robert's Rebellion was manufactured to hide the truth, which is known to very few in Westeros who are still alive.

RHAEGAR TARGARYEN AND LYANNA STARK

The official story oft-repeated about the ill-fated affair between Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, the sister of Ned Stark, is that Rhaegar abducted Lyanna, raped her and killed her. Thus Robert Baratheon, whom Lyanna was betrothed to, started a war to save her that ultimately brought down the Targaryen dynasty. This version of events is widely believed, including by Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner), who repeated the tale to Lord Petyr Baelish (Aiden Gillen) when they were at the Stark family crypt beneath Winterfell in season five.

Littlefinger in turn told Sansa a different story involving Rhaegar and Lyanna, which he personally witnessed. Years ago, there was a tournament at Harrenhal which was attended by all of the noblest highborn families, including the Mad King. Rhaegar won the tournament and in victory, he rode past his own wife Elia Martell and crowned Lyanna Stark the Queen of Love and Beauty. As Littlefinger tells the tale, all the smiles that day vanished and the crowd fell into silence.

Why would Rhaegar do such a thing by very publicly insulting his own wife and giving this accolade to a woman he barely knew? Robert Baratheon's vision of Rhaegar as an evil man who kidnapped, raped and killed Lyanna is the accepted explanation, tarnishing his hated rival's reputation for a generation. Yet, when Ser Barristan Selmy was Kingsguard to Daenerys Targaryen in season 5, he told her a story of how her brother Rhaegar loved to walk among the people of King's Landing and sing songs for them with his harp, even trying to see how much money he could earn by donations. Rhaegar was apparently a beloved man of the people who disliked fighting and killing, in contrast to his increasingly insane father the Mad King and to Rhaegar's reputation manufactured after his death. These two opposing versions of Rhaegar Targaryen don't add up, but Rhaegar's apparently lovely singing voice is one of the keys to unlocking the mystery of Rhaegar and Lyanna.

A few incidents at the legendary Harrenhal tournament that are mentioned in George R.R. Martin's novels, which have not been established in the television show, are still worth noting. The first was Lyanna Stark saving her father's bannerman, Howland Reed, the father of Jojen and Meera Reed, from a beating by three squires. Lyanna brought Howland to meet her older brothers Brandon, Ned, and Benjen at the great feast for the tournament, where Rhaegar decided to serenade all of the attendees with a song. Rhaegar's voice was said to have brought Lyanna Stark to tears.

There is also the mystery of the Knight of the Laughing Tree, an unidentified knight of smallish stature clad in mismatched armor who unseated three knights in the tournament, not coincidentally, knights from the same houses the squires who attacked Howland Reed belonged to. The Mad King charged Rhaegar to find the Knight of the Laughing Tree; after a time, Rhaegar returned with only the knight's shield, claiming he was unable to find the knight himself. Some theories suggest the mystery Knight of the Laughing Tree was secretly Lyanna Stark, who was known for her skill riding a horse, and that Rhaegar did find her, but none of this was witnessed by anyone living and cannot be confirmed (unless Bran Stark as the Three Eyed Raven can confirm it on the show in a flashback).

GILLY'S DISCOVERY ABOUT RHAEGAR AND LYANNA

In "Eastwatch," Gilly finds a record at the Citadel that Prince Rhaegar married Lyanna Stark in a secret ceremony in Dorne. High Septon Maynard recorded the annulment of Rhaegar's marriage to Elia Martell. We also recall that Oberyn Martell (Pedro Pascal), Elia's brother, told Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) in season four that he despised Rhaegar for leaving his sister for another woman. This completely contradicts the story that Lyanna was abducted, raped, and murdered by Rhaegar, and the Citadel kept legal proof.

Lyanna and Rhaegar were in fact legally married; their romance began at that fateful tournament at Harrenhal and blossomed since. Rhaegar even left his wife Elia for his new bride, who in turn willingly ended her betrothal to Robert Baratheon, which Robert blamed entirely on Rhaegar as her 'abductor,' likely unable to face the thought that Lyanna didn't reciprocate his feelings towards her, despite being promised to each other. Meanwhile, having more than one wife isn't unusual behavior for a Targaryen. The Targaryen family have a history of polygamy dating back to Aegon the Conqueror, who was married to both his sisters simultaneously. But that isn't the case with Rhaegar. He left Elia - a marriage arranged by the Mad King - for Lyanna, whom he fell in love with and she apparently reciprocated that love.

We also know from Bran's flashback to the Tower of Joy in season six that at the end of Robert's Rebellion, his father Ned, Howland Reed, and four Stark knights went to Dorne to search for Lyanna and found Ser Arthur Dayne AKA The Sword of the Morning, Ser Oswell Whent, and Ser Gerald Hightower, who was Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Ned even questioned why three of the most famous knights of this era were mysteriously guarding Lyanna Stark in the Tower instead of fighting alongside their prince Rhaegar at the Trident. But they weren't merely guarding Rhaegar's wife. Ned and Howland were the only survivors of the fight.

In the Tower, Ned found his sister Lyanna dying from childbirth and her baby boy - Rhaegar's son - whom Ned would promise to adopt and raise as his own son, Jon Snow. Ned's cover story that Jon was Ned's bastard from a tavern wench is one that Ned would maintain to his grave. Not even his wife Catelyn, and especially not his best friend Robert, who would kill Jon if he knew Jon was really Rhaegar and Lyanna's son, would ever know the truth.

Gilly's discovery of a marriage record that proves Rhaegar and Lyanna were legally married, rather than Lyanna being his prisoner, means Jon Snow is not a bastard at all - he's actually a trueborn Targaryen! As the only survivor of Rhaegar's Targaryen line, Jon Snow has no claim to being King in the North (which by rights should now go to Sansa as the eldest Stark, since Bran abdicated the responsibility), but Jon does have legal claim to the Iron Throne! Jon may even have more claim to the throne than his aunt Daenerys, and certainly more than Cersei Lannister does. How any of this holds up legally, and whether one claim has more merit than another's is anyone's guess. War and bloodshed tend to be the primary way to settle such disputes in Westeros.

Thus far, neither Jon nor Daenerys are aware of these truth bombs and we don't yet know how any of this will affect their simmering will they/won't they attraction to each other. We also don't know if Jon being a trueborn Targaryen lends any credence to him possibly being the prophesied Prince Who Was Promised. However, when the truth comes out that Jon Snow has a right by blood to claim the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, neither Daenerys nor Cersei will be best pleased by this important new player in the game of thrones.