"But babe, I wasn't cheating! It was prophecy"

Kind of hilarious that David Lightbringer, one of if not the most prolific ASOIF theorist, has waited this long to cover R+L=J for the first time 😂

Idea: if Rhaegar wanted the third head of the dragon to commemorate Visenya, he might have wanted a warrior woman to be that kid’s mom.

Maester Aemon remembers how the love of his life looked. The shape of her nose, color of her eyes, etc.

I love hearing Jon called a special snowflake.

No wonder Robert thinks about Rhaegar bitterly. Homie’s last word was Robert’s fiancée’s name. Rhaegar couldn’t have done it better if he’d moonwalked into all seven of the heavens singing Rick Astley

Ned also cares for cersei's children lives, he doesn't specifically protect Targaryen, he's just a nice guy

That ad with reading Rhaegar is just great. Good enough not to skip past 😂

It's funny that Jon is a Targaryen that looks like a Stark (Black hair and brown eyes), while his cousins are Starks that look like Tullys (Red hair and blue eyes)

I propose that neither of them lived long enough to have a real fight in their relationship so their bond over the prophecy combined with their attractions towards each other with those rose colored glasses would breed that their relationship was “picture perfect”. Up until they died of course.

There is this one line from Eddard IV that is obviously R + L = J. For context, in Eddard III, Ned killed lady. In this scene, he is talking to Little Finger about the assassin sent to kill Bran: “Ned rose and paced the length of the room. "If the queen had a role in this or, gods forbid, the king himself … no, I will not believe that." Yet even as he said the words, he remembered that chill morning on the barrowlands, and Robert's talk of sending hired knives after the Targaryen princess. He remembered Rhaegar's infant son, the red ruin of his skull, and the way the king had turned away, as he had turned away in Darry's audience hall not so long ago. He could still hear Sansa pleading, as Lyanna had pleaded once.”

Sansa pleaded with Ned not to kill her puppy. Lyanna pleaded with him to save her baby. Especially after the mention of killing Rhaegar’s first son.

One cannot help but think that George should have had more criteria for D + D  to write the show than just the identity of Jon Snow's mother.

that random clip of Rhaegar just silently eating cereal is a gem 😂

Giving Gerold Hightower and these other seemingly throwaway or background characters such depth is actually going to make a reread so refreshing

I've always assumed lyanna told rheagar the story of Beal the bard, the prophecy clicked into place in his head, then the crown of roses given back to her would be more symbolic.

Jaime says about Rhaella
"We are sworn to protect her as well," Jaime had finally been driven to say. "We are," Darry allowed, "but not from him."

I had totally missed that Gerold Hightower was sent by Aerys, Rhaegar couldn't protect himself or Lyanna from Aerys, so he probably left reluctantly.

Hey Rhaegar, I hear you like 'em young!

@31:15 It is worth noting here that in the original drafts for this story, GRRM had written it as Brandon who shows up to defeat Howland's attackers with a tourney sword. IMO, Brandon makes a lot more sense UNLESS you are trying to establish Lyanna as a character who is just as headstrong and wild as her siblings.

The squires also did not appear to have weapons which, despite Lyanna likely being smaller/weaker than they were, gave her a huge advantage. That and Lyanna's sudden appearance.

I think another important detail and clue from GRRM on Rhaegar’s character (and how he did not abduct/abuse Lyanna) is how the very first time Dany is compared to him, is when she’s defending the women from being r-worded by the dothraki. Have never seen that as coincidence either. But now I did watch and as said earlier, gorgeous video!! You connected the clues simply and it feels just obvious with your explanations. Such wonderful job, thank you!!✨

Gotta watch this again before it disappears