The ink on the writ of the Baratheon’s defeat over the War of the Usurper had barely dried when Rhaegar made the Conningtons Stormlords and took his horses to Dorne.

He climbed the Tower of Joy, the heavy scent of roses mingling with blood, where he claimed Jon Snow, the black-haired son of Lyanna Stark, as his own. Lyanna’s body and infant Jon were both dispatched to Eddard Stark as a peace offering in a ward and hostage contract.

A year later, a substantial dowry from Tywin Lannister to the King's inner circle forced a catatonic, grieving Rhaegar into a third, unwanted marriage. In his grief-stricken stupor, Rhaegar did nothing to resist, and thus he was wed to Cersei Lannister, as she'd always wanted.

From King's Landing to Lannisport, Rhaegar did not once leave the wheelhouse. He wept through the ceremony and sat dazed through the feast. When the night came, he slipped away, Aegon's dagger in hand, consumed by guilt for betraying and besmirching Lyanna. The price of his actions? His own soul—and his left eye.

King Rhaegar I survived this attempt, but his left eye was forever destroyed, as was his marriage. Cersei was disillusioned by her childhood crush, yet bore three golden-haired children: Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen.

The royal children were scattered: Elia took Rhaenys and Aegon to Sunspear post-divorce, Jon was sent North, Tywin took his grandkids to Casterly Rock, Viserys stayed in King's Landing with Dany as Barristan Selmy’s squire.

The realm had barely recovered from the rebellion when the succession crisis erupted. Aegon’s death at ten left the throne’s inheritance uncertain. Dorne backed 18-year-old Rhaenys, while the Lannisters supported 11-year-old Joffrey. Rhaegar, clinging to Lyanna and their prophecy, legitimized Jon Snow, declaring him heir despite his bastard birth. With the realm fractured, the throne was now a battleground, and bloodshed seemed inevitable.