Greg Pasquale January 7, 2015 at 9:08 am

Before Robert Baratheon overthrew King Aerys Targaryen the Seven Kingdoms were a relatively nice place to live.  There was a balanced budget (a surplus actually), the peasants had food, and there was free trade between the kingdoms.  Sure, Aerys burned alive a handful of his own constituents every year or so but what medieval ruler didn’t?  Sure beat starting wars where hundreds of thousands died.

That’s pretty much what Baratheon and his lap dog Ned accomplished.  Robert was in love with Ned’s sister Lyanna.  But Lyanna and Rhaegar Targaryen (Aerys’ son) had a discreet thing going.  Robert finds out, goes nuts.  Starts spreading propaganda – backed by his in-law’s (the power hungry Lannisters) money and influence.   Some of the kingdoms buy into it, old grudges re-surface, promises of land and money sway those on the fence and boom – you got yourself an insurgency – I mean “rebellion”.

Aerys is labeled “mad” and needs to be disposed of. Fast forward to Robert’s time on the throne – budget deficit (they actually have to borrow gold from the First Bank of Braavos, something Aerys would never have done), peasants rioting, and a continental war that has no end in sight.

Scott MG January 8, 2015 at 1:21 am

Did Robert find out where does it say that?

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Greg Pasquale January 8, 2015 at 9:18 am

The official story is, Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna and raped her but it is alluded to through character flashbacks and various subtle dialogue that those two were really in love with each other and Robert couldn’t handle it.  Because Aerys was such a screwball it was an easy sell to convince other lords that Rhaegar was just as bad as his father and the whole Targaryen line stopped. That is the theory I happen to agree with.  If you read Jaime and Tyrion chapters it is more than hinted at that Rhaegar (and if you read the latest book, the chapters from the point of view of Rhaegar’s best friend – Connington? The name escapes me at the moment) was intelligent and likeable and would have been a great king if Robert hadn’t caved in his chest at the Battle of the Trident.  But either way, the Lyanna/Rhaegar relationship was all the spark needed to get Robert off his ass and ignite the kingdom into a virtual world war.

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Kristopher Bowles January 8, 2015 at 4:23 pm

It actually goes a bit further, in that Jon Snow is actually the child of Rhaegar and Lyanna, and that the two may have been been married.

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Greg Pasquale January 8, 2015 at 4:43 pm

HA! I didn’t want to spoil that for anyone who hasn’t read the books.  It’s still theory based on prophecy and flashbacks but all signs point to that – you are right.

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Scott MG January 8, 2015 at 5:10 pm

Yeah, I am just not shure that Robert actually knew or if he was just mad that she was gone.
It wasnt until a dance with dragons that Melisandre couldnt see Stanis’s face in the flames but could only see Johns. Thats when it came together at least for me as being the strongest possability.

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John Faust January 29, 2015 at 10:42 am

Also, I think that it is worth pointing out that history was changed once Robert took the throne and again when Jofferey.  You will notice that from all objective reports, Rhaegar was a pretty nice guy.  I mean, he liked to play his harp, was well read, and seemed pretty chill.  But, all that could ever be said of Rhaegar in mixed company was that he raped and killed Lyanna.  We see the same thing start to happen with Jofferey and the incident with Arya by the river and the direwolf.  The conversation that followed with Queen Cercie (sp? too lazy to Google) talks about how Kings get to make up history in the present.  Technically, Measters write the books so they record and control the past and I think that will be very important to the future of the story. I could go on about this for a while but it may lead to spoilers.

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Kristopher Bowles January 9, 2015 at 1:58 pm

On a side note, Martin needs to get his crap together.  They postponed the release of the new book which was originally supposed to come out before the new season.  They no longer have a release date for it which means the series is going to essentially spoil the book.  I have really dug the series, but this guy is damn frustrating.

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Greg Pasquale January 10, 2015 at 10:22 am

The upcoming season shouldn’t spoil what is not published yet.  From what I’ve read, the next season will combine books 4 and 5 and may touch on some stuff that Martin has allowed the creators of the series to use but hasn’t been published yet.  On top of that, the creators said they are taking liberties with the story line this season and this might be the most the show strays from the book story-wise.  Bran, it is rumored may not be in it at all since his TV arc has pretty much caught up with Martin.

The site http://winteriscoming.net/ is all over this kind of stuff and does of good job of reporting accurate info and news.

On a side note, I’m thinking this will be the weakest season due to not much happening in books 4 and 5.  More so Feast For Crows (Dance with Dragons – was better getting the story moving again but still not like the first 3) So it might make sense for the TV creators to alter some story arcs to keep it compelling without changing the overall theme Martin is trying to convey.

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Scott MG January 10, 2015 at 1:49 am

Yeah, he spending his time making smaller map type books. It kind of annoys me as well.

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