Highlights
- Lyanna Stark's death and her request to protect her son from Robert's wrath led Ned to raise Jon Snow as his bastard, hiding his true identity as Aegon Targaryen.
- Lyanna's abduction by Rhaegar and their forbidden love story sparked Robert's Rebellion, which ultimately led to the fall of House Targaryen.
- Rhaegar did not kidnap Lyanna; they chose to run away together and were married in a secret ceremony, making Jon Snow the legitimate heir to the Iron Throne.
The very mention of the late Lyanna Stark in Game of Thrones season 1, episode 1, "Winter Is Coming" saddens her brother, Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell. It so happens that the King of the Andals and the First Men and Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm, Robert I Baratheon rides to Winterfell to ask Ned to take Jon Arryn's place as Hand. While a host of people want to meet Robert, he exchanges pleasantries with the Starks and asks to be taken down to the crypts to pay respects. The crypts house the tombs of Stark ancestors, and though traditionally it contained statues of the former Kings in the North and Lords of Winterfell, Ned had parted with tradition and had Lyanna entombed down there.
There's a strong reason behind Ned's commemoration of Lyanna, in that, she'd died tragically in the birthing bed. She had also entrusted her newborn son, Aegon Targaryen to her big brother.
You have to protect him. Promise me, Ned. Promise Me.
A midwife hands Lyanna and Rhaegar's baby to Ned and to protect him from Robert's wrath, his uncle names him Jon and raises him as his bastard.
Lyanna was a headstrong, assertive, and courageous woman. In the last moments before her death (seen in Game of Thrones season 6, episode 10 "The Winds of Winter") she tells her brother that she wants to be brave and live. Her death leaves a heartache that Ned never really recovers from, and he never talks about her. The daughter of the late Lord Rickard Stark and sister of Eddard, and Benjen, Lyanna and Prince Rhaegar Targaryen's love story bled the Seven Kingdoms and led to an uprising known as Robert's Rebellion.
Lord Whent's Great Tourney At Harrenhal
At the beginning of Game of Thrones, Rhaegar is said to have abducted Lyanna, and this abduction is said to be the leading cause of Robert's Rebellion. Lyanna was betrothed to Robert Baratheon who was the young head of House Baratheon, while Rhaegar was heir apparent to Aerys, aka the Mad King. Rhaegar was married to Doran and Oberyn Martell's sister, the Dornish Princess, Elia Martell, and she bore him two children, a boy named Aegon and a girl named Rhaenys.
Rhaegar first saw Lyanna at Lord Whent's tourney at Harrenhal. The headstrong young lady was attending with her brothers, and she rescued Howland Reed (Jojen and Meera's father) from bully squires. Key Targaryen figures such as the Mad King, Prince Rhaegar, Elia Martell, Robert Baratheon, Mace Tyrell, and Oberyn Martell were in attendance. While Rhaegar won the tourney, and unhorsed the likes of Lord Yohn Royce, Brandon Stark, Arthur Dayne and lastly, Ser Barristan Selmy, he rode right past his wife and laid a crown of winter rose laurel in Lyanna's lap. This move silenced everyone at the tourney and it had political ramifications. Some accused Rhaegar of conspiring with House Stark to use them against Aerys, while some accused him of using Lyanna as a pawn in his politics.
Lyanna's brother, Brandon took offense, while some accounts say her betrothed, Robert nursed a grudge against Rhaegar. The Martells, more specifically, Elia's older brother, Prince Doran was furious because Rhaegar chose Lyanna as the Queen of Love and Beauty. In Game of Thrones season 5, episode 4 "Sons of the Harpy," Lord Petyr Baelish narrates the incident to Sansa:
He [Rhaegar] rode past his wife and he lay a crown of winter roses in Lyanna's lap. Blue as frost.
The Execution Of Rickard And Brandon Stark
Whent's Great Tourney sowed the seeds of Robert's Rebellion, but The World of Ice & Fire says the Crown Prince and Lyanna wouldn't see each other until another year. By this time, Elia had birthed Prince Aegon, and in the Riverlands Rhaegar, joined by his companions notably Ser Arthur Dayne, and Ser Oswell Whent were believed to have kidnapped Lyanna. This led Brandon Stark and his companions namely Ethan Glover, Kyle Royce, Elbert Arryn, and Jeffory Mallister march south to King's Landing. The Mad King put them in chains on charges of treason and summoned Lord Rickard Stark. He executed all of them( except Ethan Glover), and demanded that the head of House Arryn, Jon send him the heads of his wards - Robert and Ned.
Combat At The Tower Of Joy
The Houses of Arryn, Baratheon, and Stark went to war, and at the decisive Battle of the Trident, Robert dealt a mighty blow to Rhaegar's chest using his warhammer. The crown Prince was dead, but the question of Lyanna still remained. She was in the Tower of Joy situated near the Red Mountains of Dorne, guarded by the knights of Aerys' Kingsguard - Ser Arthur Dayne, and Ser Gerold Hightower. While Rhaegar rode into battle, he left his best men to protect his pregnant wife, Lyanna. In Game of Thrones season 6, episode 3 "Oathbreaker," the Three-eyed Raven and Bran Stark journey into the past and witness Ned ask the knights why they weren't at the Trident to protect their prince, to which Dayne replies:
Our Prince wanted us here.
By this time, the Mad King and his heir, Rhaegar were dead and Robert had laid his claim to the throne, which meant that he wouldn't spare any Targaryen in his sight, especially Lyanna and Rhaegar's baby. As revealed in Bran Stark's visions in Game of Thrones, the Combat at the Tower of Joy resulted in the deaths of the knights while Howland and Ned survived. Ned couldn't beat Dayne in one-on-one combat, and it was Howland who stabbed him in the back. Ned rushed inside the tower. In Game of Thrones' "The Winds of Winter," Bran saw his dying aunt entrust her baby boy to his father.
Rhaegar Loved His Lady Lyanna
Rhaegar didn't kidnap Lyanna, but the two stole away. He had his marriage to Elia annulled and wed Lyanna in a secret ceremony presided over by a High Septon. She bore him a lawful son and the rightful heir to the Iron Throne - Aegon (Jon Snow) who would have been the sixth of his name. In Game of Thrones season 7, episode 7 "The Dragon and the Wolf," Samwell Tarly informed Bran that Rhaegar wed Lyanna in a secret ceremony. Bran who was the Three-Eyed Raven by then revisited the moment and confirmed that Robert's Rebellion was built on a lie.
Rhaegar and Lyanna's romance came to a screeching halt while Jon went on to lead the war against the Dead in Game of Thrones.