#rhaellas

[cynicalclassicist]

Yeh, GRRM isn't really one for genetic reality, see the whole Baratheon and Lannister hair thing, which really isn't how genetics works. But it works as a character piece. And that is what he is writing.

sometimes I wonder what Jaime and Cersei's relationship would be like if they knew they were fraternal twins. like that in the womb they were in two separate amniotic sacs and could not have physically touched and that they came from two completely different eggs and sperm (also I'm not a doctor but it seems impossible that Jaime could've been holding Cersei's foot if they were fraternal). how would Cersei's feel if she knew that she was as genetically similar to Tyrion as she was to Jaime?

He could never bear to be long apart from his twin. Even as children, they would creep into each other’s beds and sleep with their arms entwined. Even in the womb. –Jaime III, ASOS

I’m not sure that Jaime’s wrong though? Here’s a very sad story with ultrasound pictures of boy-girl fraternal twins holding hands in the womb. (Don’t click the link if you aren’t prepared for SADNESS.) The doctor in that news article says that most twins in ultrasounds are seen kicking/hitting each other, and obviously Westeros doesn’t have ultrasounds and no one really knows if Jaime and Cersei embraced in utero but it is suggestive of the very strong bond between them. 

Regarding Jaime holding Cersei’s foot, it’s almost certainly a reference to the Biblical story of Jacob and Esau, who were probably fraternal twins. If fraternal twins can hold hands in the womb, I don’t think it’s impossible one fraternal twin can hold the other’s foot during birth? Perhaps someone more knowledgable in obstetrics could weigh in here? 

There’s also a way for boy-girl twins to be monozygotic. The resulting characteristics of the girl twin (short stature, underdeveloped ovaries) clearly don’t apply to Cersei, but we’re assuming that genetics works the same way on Terros as it does in real life, which may not be a correct assumption. GRRM has already defied the laws of genetics, so if he wanted Jaime and Cersei to be monozygotic and Cersei’s phenotype to remain unchanged from how we know her, that’s a lot more believable than the Targ dragon mutation. There might be something poetic to Terros genetics having Cersei losing a Y chromosome in utero and thus losing everything she would otherwise have if she were born male. Such a small thing to lose a kingdom over. 

sometimes I wonder what Jaime and Cersei’s relationship would be like if they knew they were fraternal twins. 

I really don’t think this would change anything. It’s this mindset:

“Both.” She did not flinch from the truth. “Since we were children together. And why not? The Targaryens wed brother to sister for three hundred years, to keep the bloodlines pure. And Jaime and I are more than brother and sister. We are one person in two bodies. We shared a womb together. [Womb = uterus = Jaime and Cersei definitely shared it] He came into this world holding my foot, our old maester said. When he is in me, I feel … whole.“ 

And this fact:

And he smiled at your birth, Jaime, I saw that with mine own eyes. You and Cersei, pink and perfect, as alike as two peas in a pod … well, except between the legs. 

Those matter much, much more to Jaime and Cersei’s relationship than whether they shared an amniotic sac or not. 

how would Cersei’s feel if she knew that she was as genetically similar to Tyrion as she was to Jaime?

Denial, probably, much the same way Tywin tries to deny a strong connection to Tyrion. If genetics actually mattered in Westeros, Cersei would probably be very relieved on some level if she could distance herself genetically from her dwarf brother and blame Tyrion’s appearance on Aerys and “exonerate” her father. (Another reason A+J=T is not happening.) 

Overall I think the main takeaway here is not to try too hard with the science and focus more on ASOIAF as a character-driven narrative, how Jaime and Cersei were identical except for their sex, and how they’ve had a very strong bond between them, one that they both believe existed since before they were born and how that bond is changing/dissolving over AGOT - ADWD and beyond. 

[kudriaken]

House Targaryen before Robert`s Rebellion.

[itsburningsa4ge]

Rhaena the Black Bride

I fed my last husband to my dragon. If you make me take another, I may eat him myself.

COMMISSIONS OPEN 💌💌💌

Or donate down below 💗

[asoiafpalestine]

Our 95th art piece is...

Rhaella Targaryen and her granddaughter Rhaenys Targaryen, by @midgesdoodles here on tumblr! For @tweedfrog.

We’re currently not taking further commissions. Check out our page for our current information and to see how you can still help Palestinians in need!

[gracielikegrapes]

Redo of the Targaryen women I did last year!

note I only Included women born (Name) Targaryen for sanity's sake

[melrosing]

aerys II era targs. trimmed his fingernails sorry x

[wweskywalker]

"When Jaehaerys departed Oldtown for King’s Landing, most of his court traveled with him. His sister Rhaena parted ways with him at Highgarden, however, flying back to Fair Isle, the seat of Lord Farman, on Dreamfyre. But she left behind her daughters: the twins Aerea and Rhaella. Rhaella, the younger, remained at the Starry Sept, having been sworn to the Faith, while Aerea, the elder—now the heir to the Iron Throne until such time as Jaehaerys had children of his own—went on to the Red Keep to serve as a companion and cupbearer to Alysanne."

my version of rhaena's twin daughters as commissioned by dianaaklem on x/twt! there's another version which diana had asked for and it will be featured in the next commissions post 💜

[lady-of-the-citadel]

they loved you, but never enough to save you.

queen rhaella, bound by prophecy and doomed just the same.

rhaella haunts my narrative; take her pain, double it, and give it to her father and Aerys.

[malleefies]

Viserys and Daenerys selling Rhaella's crown. pretty filter version and good-quality version inst*gram KILLED the quality so im putting two versions...but hi!!! hey :) bawling over them

[gotham-at-nightfall]

Valyrian Couples: Part II

Aegon IV Targaryen, Naerys Targaryen and Aemon (son of Viserys II) Targaryen

Daemon I Blackfyre and Daenerys (daughter of Aegon IV) Targaryen

Brynden Rivers and Shiera Seastar

Aelor Targaryen and Aelora Targaryen

Aerion "Brightflame" Targaryen and Daenora Targaryen

Jaehaerys II Targaryen and Shaera Targaryen

Aerys II Targaryen and Rhaella Targaryen

Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen

By Jota Saraiva

PART I

[nouketou]

From Aerys II to Daenerys Stormborn, the Unburnt, Queen of Meereen, Queen of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men, Khaleesi of Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Shackles, and Mother of Dragons

The end of the Targaryen line

-> the return of the Valyrian traditional face markings and Daenerys obviously wears both marks, as the Mother of Dragons would

-> Rhaegar wears the earrings of Duncan Targaryen found in the ashes of Summerhall

-> Young Griff wears an inverted interpretation of his father's earrings, in order to accentuate his Aegon Targaryen's story

-> Daenerys's earrings wears earrings that reminded her of her mother's crown

-> I decided to include a real baby Rhaego, as Daenerys dreamed him and not as Mirri Maz Duur described him, also he has a big scaly birthmark (similar to Rhaenyra's daughter) the shape of a dragon

-> Missandei is baby

[vivacissimx]

The puzzle piece about Rhaegar that is really interesting but unfortunately often overlooked is that he was relieved when he realized he was not TPTWP. Yes, relieved. Conflicted too which I will get into. And I believe it is obvious that when Rhaegar first read about Aegon's prophecy, he was not enthused— It seems I must be a warrior is trotted out to talk about Rhaegar's gender expression, his disconnect with capital m Masculinity that is purposely contrasted to Robert Baratheon reveling in it (indeed only making sense within the context of violence, battle, war) but there is more to the compulsion involved in the words It seems and I must than just It seems I must become an archetype. Socially becoming a fighter was already expected of him but he was not, presumably, in compliance with this expectation. The prophecy motivated him in a different way than you will be socially rewarded for acting as a man does.

Which brings me to another point i.e. how Rhaegar perceived himself prior to reading what he read; his connection to the tragedy of his birth and the grief, the resentment, the awkward dynamics between members of his family. "Oh he was a child" yes but we're told that Rhaegar did not act like, think like, or even particularly get along with others his age. So it's safe to say he was aware of Summerhall and felt it's shadow surrounding him from a young age. And Aegon's prophecy, combined with the Ghost of High Heart's prophecy, the events of Summerhall, put this weight on his shoulders completely into context. It was not that Rhaegar desired to be TPTWP because he took to it with determination but no particular joy. Every indicator just seemed to demand he give himself over to fulfilling this role. TPTWP was coming from Aerys and Rhaella's line? Well, he was their only child. Consult Maester Aemon on the matter? Yeah kid it's you. Ancient scrolls? Dusty, but they agree. Dead ancestors? Oh wait, they died so YOU could live. Woah.

This understanding basically necessitates us looking to ASOS Daenerys who also has some knowledge of TPTWP prophecy, and thanks to the Rhaegar-Daenerys pipeline, we can imagine that Rhaegar had similar thoughts to Daenerys, such as when she asks herself: The dragon has three heads. There are two men in the world who I can trust, if I can find them. I will not be alone then. We will be three against the world, like Aegon and his sisters. Who are Rhaegar's fellow two heads? Daenerys wonders at this, telling Jorah that her brothers are dead. Well Rhaegar's brothers die too, right in front of him. Rhaella suffers miscarriage after stillbirth after crib death. She is punished for this by Aerys via isolation and presumably Rhaegar is also kept separate from her— textually we know that Rhaegar was expected to take a sister to bride, i.e. further targcest was going to be enforced by Aerys, and to Rhaegar the loss would have also been of the other two people who would have fulfilled the requirements of the prophecy. Yes that's true. However, it was also the loss of his mother.

Rhaella was 13 when she had Rhaegar so it would be ridiculous to even think that she, a child, a Queen from when Rhaegar was 3, was this grand maternal figure to him. Of course she wasn't. There was too much on her shoulders. Too much on Aerys's shoulders as well, to be any sort of father except the kind who trotted Rhaegar out as an impressive little heir from time to time. Rhaegar was Aerys's success (it's the duty of the patriarch to sire sons who will continue the line) but as Rhaegar's siblings failed to survive, that success became a dicey thing. So when Viserys was born & survived, there is a thought that Rhaegar would latch onto such a sibling. This isn't the case— in fact, Viserys is Rhaella's. She coddles him. Keeps him close. Safe from Aerys (who already has Rhaegar). Viserys tells Dany stories about Rhaegar but this is done in the sense that he does not truly know Rhaegar. Why wouldn't Rhaegar have spent more time with Viserys, if he was motivated by fulfillment of the prophecy?

Because Viserys was Rhaella's, perhaps. Rhaegar never truly got to be his mother's son. To leech Viserys away from her... there's something in that. When Rhaella warmly welcomed Rhaegar's daughter, too. Rhaella's was Aerys's wife and property, which Rhaegar knew because he was also Aerys's property. Rhaella was mother to his brother. Rhaella was a grandmother to his daughter. She was everything but the woman who raised him.

"Rhaegar was a lonely man anyway due to his depression" yes that's true. There is an asceticism to Rhaegar Targaryen. The places he enjoys are bare and stripped, places he can keep his own company: Summerhall, the place of his birth, haunted, full of magic. Dragonstone where he retreats after his marriage, a place where the last embers of Valyria's magic died. Later the Tower of Joy is in a barren desert. But he finds a beauty in these places. He writes music that pushes him back into the shared world, songs he shares with people, about people, about lovers and those who sacrificed and who he is deeply moved by— almost like he's motivating himself. People are drawn to him.

Despite his lack of connection to Rhaella and Viserys he does bond with people. Arthur Dayne, who for all we can try and complicate, apply horseshoe theory to, is meant as the juxtaposition to characters such as the Smiling Knight. Brave as brass Myles Mooton whose memory his people still call upon. Richard Lonmouth and Jon Connington, both technically vassals to Robert Baratheon, funny little irony there. Princess Elia his wife who he is fond of along with the Dornishmen she comes to court with, "particularly" Prince Lewyn of the Kingsguard, who is in Rhaegar's confidence (per AWOIAF). These bonds seem strong because not a whiff of possible disloyalty on Rhaegar's part ever reaches Aerys despite it definitely existing and Aerys actively looking for it (again per AWOIAF). Do these confidantes know about Aegon's prophecy? IDK. At least in JonCon's case the answer seems to be no. However we also know JonCon wasn't actually the closest to Rhaegar. Nonetheless, I think we can assume that outside of Arthur Myles and Richard most of these were political relationships which Rhaegar pursued and all were concerned about Aerys's instability— there is also Tywin who Rhaegar performs certain overtures towards (such as knighting Gregor, Tywin's man, at a time when the Aerys-Tywin relationship had just grown particularly sour) indicating he'd like him as an ally. This is all straying away from TPTWP but I think it's important, it shows that even imbued with purpose, Rhaegar was in a position that did not lend itself towards him being able to take much action...

Then winter breaks. Spring comes. Nobody knows it's false yet. Rhaegar's whole deal is this coming Long Night. Everyone takes, quite literally, a breath of fresh air, and the tourney of Harrenhal commences, with Rhaegar as a shadow sponsor, thinking to call an informal Great Council which will begin to deal with Aerys (step 1)(step 1 failed).

This is where matters of prophecy come back into focus. I've covered Rhaegar's various relationships, the shallowness of them, the stagnancy in Developments due to Aerys's paranoia, etc. Harrenhal is not a solitary place but it is flush with magic in a way similar to Summerhall and Dragonstone— all places where dragons have died Harrenhal is thematically the cannibal dragon let's not get into that. And this is important to Rhaegar's characterization because of how things unfold with Lyanna Stark in several ways: 1) Lyanna cries to his song. Before they formally meet Lyanna is touched by the magic and purpose and sacrifice and yes, love, of which Rhaegar sings. It speaks to her. Of course, many others likely cried too. Common occurrence, see: A song of love and doom, Jon Connington recalled, and every woman in the hall was weeping when he put down the harp. Not the men, of course. Rhaegar gender moment but I digress. 2) Rhaegar's discovery of her as the KOTLT despite Robert & Richard Lonmouth both vowing to do so, those raucous manly men, both of whom failed; Rhaegar's subsequent hiding of her identity to unknown consequence for himself if any. All he produces is her shield which is painted with a tree on it, a purposeful callback to Duncan the Tall's shield, both Lyanna and Dunk being 'false knights' yet, in their actions, true ones. Sorry I love Lyanna so much I can't resist plugging her greatest hits 3) Rhaegar winning the tourney, the only tourney he's ever won... and immediately tainting his victory by awarding it to Lyanna instead.

I bring this all up and frame it because here we see that Rhaegar is not really invested in his own victory or legacy or even really his honor. His wife Princess Elia is there and she is pregnant with his son, something he could commemorate in the same vein that Aerys "honored" Rhaegar by showcasing him at various tourneys, an ode to a future warrior king, but Rhaegar doesn't do that. It's not his victory as a Man. It's never been about his victory as a Man. It doesn't even need to be his victory.

Neither does Aegon's prophecy. Rhaegar rapidly realizes that on two fronts: second, the false spring ends. It wasn't real! Rhaegar's spring isn't the lasting one. First, though, is that Rhaegar and Elia's son Aegon is born, a difficult birth in which Elia is rendered infertile. Who does this remind you of? Oh right, Aerys with Rhaella— only Rhaegar does not go about trying to impregnate Elia again. Rhaegar becomes convinced Aegon is TPTWP— something he was already thinking, prior. Rhaegar was never so invested in himself being TPTWP that he could not be convinced otherwise. Maester Aemon: Rhaegar, I thought... the smoke was from the fire that devoured Summerhall on the day of his birth, the salt from the tears shed for those who died. He shared my belief when he was young, but later he became persuaded that it was his own son who fulfilled the prophecy, for a comet had been seen above King's Landing on the night Aegon was conceived, and Rhaegar was certain the bleeding star had to be a comet. Rhaegar agreeing "when he was young" and being "certain the bleeding star had to be a comet" all indicate that he had been looking into the possibility that TPTWP was Not Him for a while. The visits to Summerhall— maybe they were a search for proof by encasing himself in the lingering magic of the place? He still messed up the prince/princess translation presumably because baby Rhaenys never seemed to be in the conversation. (The bleeding star was in fact a comet, funnily enough, a little consolation prize for the pretty boy.) Here's what we know: in Daenerys's vision, Elia asks if Rhaegar will write Aegon a son, we can assume because he wrote their firstborn Rhaenys a song, but Rhaegar says no, he already has one. The song of ice and fire. Aegon doesn't get a song. Why? Rhaegar believes he must be a warrior.

Yet, he sings for him anyway.

Rhaegar's "it seems" and "I must" and distance from Viserys and inner conflict about Aerys and doubt about his own place in the grand scheme of things all come to fruition with Aegon's birth. Rhaegar isn't TPTWP— and it spurs him into action. A weight is off his shoulders so now he can act. As in the case of crowning Lyanna, when the purpose of a task is not to honor or elevate him, we see Rhaegar able to perform in ways he could not before.

Namely there are two veins: acting against Aerys and seeking out information of the prophecy, but Rhaegar's general direction (through the Riverlands past Harrenhal) seems to indicate that he was headed towards the Ghost of High Heart. Not Summerhall, a place of mysticism meant to soothe Rhaegar. Rather a place of pain. The Ghost of High Heart who gorged on grief at Summerhall, who only ever demands Jenny's song (which Rhaegar seems to have wrote), who sees in Arya who looks like Lyanna, who looks like Jon, death. But instead of ever making it there... Rhaegar meets Lyanna.

And then they disappear. There are the Rhaegarwars to consider so I'm just going to say that, at the least, Lyanna did not want to marry Robert though society dictated that she must, and in removing her, she was removed from this. From there she came to be in Dorne in a place that was desolate desert, but similar to Summerhall, which was also abandoned, held something of magic in that it was near where Those Who Sing The Song of the Earth had split the Arm of Dorne. We can say a lot more about this but that's not the point of the post. I have explained Rhaegar as a person disconnected from his mother, later a person who in several manners refuses to act as Aerys did towards Rhaella, indicating that disconnect troubled him — Rhaegar's limited amount of close relationships with people he admired and the deep loyalty shown to him, presumably for a reason — Rhaegar's willingness to interrogate himself & his assumptions about the world.

So when I say Rhaegar was relieved what I mean is that upon suspecting and, to his mind, confirming that he was not the fulfillment of Aegon's prophecy, Rhaegar became proactive in ways he had yearned for but not been able to before. The Rhaegar that died with Lyanna's name as his last word was not a Rhaegar who died thinking the world was doomed without him. I think the Rhaegar that died on the Trident was a Rhaegar who had escaped the shadow of fate only to meet it, face to face.

[targsource]

Queen Rhaella

by zacckiell on twitter

[efpizza]

Queen Rhaella (Mother of Rhaegar, Viserys, & Dany) being dressed after a visit from Aerys

Grim concept, but I had the idea for this drawing from these passages:

"Whenever Aerys gave a man to the flames, Queen Rhaella would have a visitor in the night. The day he burned his mace-and-dagger Hand, Jaime and Jon Darry had stood at guard outside her bedchamber whilst the king took his pleasure. "You're hurting me," they had heard Rhaella cry through the oaken door. "You're hurting me."

"(The maids were) whispering after she was gone. They said the queen looked as if some beast had savaged her, clawing at her thighs and chewing on her breasts"

(jaime, a feast for crows)

[rynnthefangirl]

I love so much the concept of the dragons being tied to Targaryen women and their fertility. It plays so poignantly into the history of House Targaryen in Westeros. The Targaryens come to Westeros, and in an attempt to consolidate their power, they assimilate into the oppressive social structures of Westeros, sacrificing and devaluing their women to do so. Rhaena, Aerea, Rhaenys, Rhaenyra, Daena, Naerys, Rhaella, and so many more — crushed under the heels of their brothers and fathers and uncles in order to appease the lords of the realm. And in doing so, the Targaryens ironically kill their true source of power. Dragon egg production is high before Dance, as Syrax and her rider Rhaenrya’s fertility flourishes as one. Then Rhaenyra is usurped and killed, and suddenly, no eggs can hatch. It speaks to the general devaluing of women’s labor and contributions, not just in House Targaryen, but in broader Westeros and our own world. It is not the fighting or the conquering or the crown or the Sword or the Iron Throne that forms the weight bearing beams of the House of the Dragon. It is female fertility, labor, childbirth, motherhood. The latter had been exploited for the sake of the former for 300 years, chipping away at that load bearing beam until the House collapses around them, dragons and crowns and thrones and men and women alike.

And the one to bring it all back? A girl. Overlooked and underestimated, her value tied solely to the son she could bear or the army she can be sold to buy. But the true power is intrinsic to her. All the men think themselves the great saviors of their house and their world— with women like Lyanna Stark and Elia Martell being sacrificed at the altar of Targaryen men’s destiny— but it is Daenerys Stormborn, Daughter of Dragons, Bride of Dragons, Mother of Dragons, who succeeds where they all failed.

[rhiannonnouveau]

Some more outfit designs, this time a few Targaryen queens - Rhaenys, Alysanne, Rhaenyra, Naerys and Rhaella

I do really like the concept of their their clothes becoming progressively less Valyrian over time, also The idea of Rhaenyra trying to do old Valyrian cosplay and massively overshooting the mark is just really funny to me