ASOIAF AU where all of Aerys and Rhaella's children survive, the king is not mad, and Rhaegar is a decent human being (and a dragon dreamer)
Another AU I will probably not be writing, but you are welcome to turn it into a fic. Takes place in the same universe as my House of the Dragon AU (you can check it out here https://www.tumblr.com/deboravelasquez1945/814879776343031808/hotd-fanfic-idea-i-am-too-busy-to-write?source=share)
-After Rhaegar is born during the Summerhall Tragedy, Aerys and Rhaella had five more children in the following years: Shaena, Daeron, Aegon, Jaehaerys and Viserys, all born before Duskendale. But Rhaegar was always different from his siblings: He suffered horrible nightmares that left him with nosebleeds and drenched in sweat. Everyone always assumed he was cursed by Summerhall or simply sick. In reality, he was a dragon dreamer, and the nightmares were visions of the future. Aerys was fustrated by his heir 'weakness', and in order to try to heal him, allowed several maesters and healers to experimented on him throughout his childhood. None of it worked. Some of it made things worse.
-Tywin and Aerys still fall out over Tywin's popularity and Aerys' old affair with Joanna, leading to Duskendale in 277 AC. Rhaegar is 18 and suddenly becomes Regent while his father is imprisoned. He handles the Crown's day-to-day affairs while Tywin deals with the crisis, but more importantly, he becomes the main caretaker of his five younger siblings, the oldest (Shaena) being 10 and the youngest (Viserys) being just 1 year-old. The children become extremely attached to their big brother. After Aerys is rescued, he's traumatized and paranoid. He suspects Tywin and Rhaegar either plotted his capture or were willing to let him die so Rhaegar could become king. This destroys what little trust remained between them, BUT Aerys doesn't become the pyromaniac lunatic from canon. He's still erratic, angry and deeply paranoid, but functional. He keeps most of his post-Duskendale habits from canon, like refusing to leave the Red Keep or letting anyone near him with a blade. He cuts his hair, beard and nails himself, which results in him looking like a dishelved hermit, and doesn't let the servants bath him, fearing they will kill him in the tub, so he bathes alone, and doesn't eat much for fear of being poisoned. When he does eat, it's only after a group of tasters tasted the food.
-One year after this, Aerys has his cousin Steffon search for a wife to Rhaegar, since his sister Shaena is 8 years younger than him and marrying them could result in Shaena having problems to get pregnant. Steffon and his wife die at the sea like in canon, and Rhaegar is eventually wed to Elia Martell. Aerys doesn't go to the wedding and forbids his other children from going. Rhaegar and Elia move to Dragonstone to be away from Aerys, and there they have Rhaenys in 280 AC, creating a parallel court in the ancestral seat of House Targaryen, composed of nobles from houses like Velaryon and Celtigar and from the Dornish houses.
-In King's Landing, the court basically learns to tolerate Aerys' eccentricities because, unlike canon, he's not randomly burning people alive, but they hate him because they can't manipulate him. A paranoid but sane king who remembers every slight and has Varys and his little birds everywhere is honestly more dangerous than a mad king. Aerys is grim, grouchy and constantly suspicious, with furious rants and pacing fits that have everyone walking on eggshells. Meanwhile, Rhaella effectively runs the domestic court of the Red Keep, acting as the matriarch trying to manage her large, loud family. Aerys doesn't cheat on her anymore due to his aversion to touch and his hyper-vigilance, but he doesn't abuse her like in the books either, living in a kind of trauma-induced celybacy. And despite not being pyromaniac, he still keeps a massive stockpile of wildfire beneath King's Landing. You know, just in case.
-Shaena, now 14, has entered her 'rebelious teen' phase, angry at her father for driving her older brother away. She leaves the Red Keep at dawn through secret tunnels to hunt on the King's Woods, refuses to dress like a Targaryen princess (wearing tunics, pants and leathers instead), escaping her lessons with the septa to sparr with the soldiers in the barracks and and openly tells her father when she thinks he's being an idiot. Their shouting matches have become legendary in the Red Keep, the kind of thing people hide behind doors to hear just to have an epic story to tell later. Shaena is probably the only person in the world who can look her father in the eye with the same fire and not be intimidated by his erratic behaviour. Her younger brothers are no less troublesome: Daeron, now 12, is training as a knight and has already won several jousts, which makes him popular—and therefore suspicious to Aerys. Since Rhaegar is gone, Daeron has become the "man of the house" and spends half his life mediating between his father and sister, an exausting, thankless job. Aegon (8) and Jaehaerys (6), on the other hand, are the Red Keep's resident daredevils, constantly pranking servants and nobles, skipping lessons and driving the Kingsguard insane. They only listen to Daeron and Rhaella. Viserys (4) is less chaotic, but he's a grumpy little brat with a permanent scowl and an obsession with Valyrian history.
-While the King's family drives him up the walls, the STAB alliance (Stark, Tully, Arryn and Baratheon) is secretly formed. Because Aerys isn't a tyrant in this AU, they're not planning to overthrow him. They want more power for the lords and less centralized power for the Crown, especially because Aerys has centralized a LOT of authority since Duskendale. Hoster Tully tries to bring Tywin in by offering Lysa to Jaime, but Cersei discovers the plan and manipulates things so Jaime is appointed to the Kingsguard instead, causing Tywin to return to Casterly Rock as in canon and take her with him.
-Rhaegar is contacted by the STAB alliance at some point in 281 AC with the proposal of making an allegiance with them. He agrees to fund Lord Whent's tourney at Harrenhall and use the event as cover to have his informal Great Council. Like canon, Varys tells Aerys about this conspiracy and Aerys leaves the Red Keep for the first time just to attend the tourney. This results in a wonderfully tense family reunion between the Red Keep Targaryens (Aerys, Rhaella and the younger children) and the Dragonstone Targaryens (Rhaegar, Elia and Rhaenys). Jamie Lannister is made a knight of the King's Guard in opening of the toruney, but forbiden by Aerys to participate and ordered to guard Rhaella and the younger children instead.
-When Aerys commands Rhaegar to track down the Knight of the Laughing Tree, Rhaegar tracks the knight into the woods around Harrenhal and demands they unmask. Lyanna Stark removes her helmet, expecting arrest. Then Rhaegar's dragon dreaming hits him like a truck and he is flooded with rapid, terrifying images of an alternate reality where he kidnaps this young lady, the whole realm burns for it and we get GOT season 8. Rhaegar collapses to his knees with a severe nosebleed and cold sweats. Lyanna instantly drops her defiance and rushes to help him. Rhaegar doesn't understand why or how he saw this nightmare, but he recognizes it as a dire, divine warning: Any reckless entanglement with Lyanna Stark will bring complete fire and blood upon his family. Once he is stabilized, he hears her explanation about Howland Reed and understands why she became the Knight of the Laughing Tree. He agrees to keep her identity secret, warns her that Aerys would execute her if he discovered the truth, and gives her his signet ring and a small dragonglass dagger, saying "If my father's men ever get close to discovering what you did here, send this to me. I'll handle it." He then hides her armor, takes only the painted shield, and tells Aerys the knight escaped.
-Despite his father's presence and the whole Knight of the Laughing Tree drama, Rhaegar still manages to hold the secret council with the STAB lords by changing tactics and tricking Varys' spies. Rhaegar makes it very clear to the lords that he does NOT want rebellion, and that if he becomes king he will promote gradual change. He proposes marrying the siblings who are already of age (Shaena and Daeron) to the heirs of the great houses, proposing that Robert marries Shaena instead of Lyanna and that Daeron marries Cersei as a way to appease Tywin, giving him the royal marriage he always wanted for his daughter, even if it is to a second son instead of the heir, and bring the Lannisters back into the fold. Rickard Stark is initially against it, as he had already promised Lyanna to Robert, but Rhaegar proposes a bethoral between Lyanna and his brother Aegon (still reeling from his vision). Since she is 14 and Aegon is 9, both sides will have to wait a few years for the boy to become of age, but Rickard accepts Rhaegar's proposal. Lastly, Jaehaerys is promised to Lysa Tully, who is 12, meaning the Tullys will also have to wait a while for the union to happen, but after losing the opportunity to wed Lysa to Jamie, Hoster takes Rhaegar's offer. Rhaegar also promises that when he becomes King, Aegon will be fostered at Winterfell and Jaehaerys at Riverrun so they can be raised and tutored by their future wive's houses before they get married.
-Little does everyone know, they are being overheard by Shaena, who followed Rhaegar to the meeting place. She confronts him privatly after that, furious at him for bethoring her to Robert (a drunkward known for his whoring), Daeron to Cersei (an older, bitter woman), Aegon to Lyanna and Jaehaerys to Lysa (a girl rumored to be fragile). Rhaegar argues that this is for the realm's good, to avoid a rebellion that could lead to their deaths. Shaena ultimately promises to support him, but warns him that if his plan harms the family, she will end him personally. Later, Rhaegar wins the tourney and crowns Shaena Queen of Love and Beauty. Everyone thinks it's a sweet brother-sister gesture, but it's actually his way of telling Shaena: I heard you, and I will protect this family. Aerys knows Rhaegar plotted something at Harrenhal, though he doesn't know what. So he decides to keep his heir close and names him Hand of the King, framing it as a reward for Rhaegar's victry. Rhaegar can't refuse without looking like a traitor, so he accepts. However, he says Elia and little Rhaenys will return to Dragonstone, for Elia is pregnant with the couple's second child and her health is fragile, needing the sea air to remain stable. Besides, someone needs to manage their household while he is in the capital. Aerys concedes.
-Once back in King's Landing, Aerys keeps Rhaegar under suffocating surveillance. Rhaegar has breakfast with him every morning, walks with him to Small Council meetings, and report every decision he made before going to bed. Aerys constantly drops hints that he knows about Harrenhal and watches Rhaegar's reactions. This forced proximity makes Rhaegar realize just how badly Aerys has deteriorated. He's severely sleep-deprived, malnourished, trembling constantly and barely able to climb the Red Keep's stairs. He alternates between accusing Rhaegar of plotting against him and making angry, half-hidden apologies about how he "failed to fix" him as a child. Aerys genuinely believed the experiments were helping, and he genuinely regrets them, but his trauma has made him incapable of trusting his adult son. Rhaegar realizes he no longer hates his father. He mostly feels pity for him. Aerys isn't a monster to be overthrown; he's a sick, exhausted man who needs the burden of kingship taken away. Rhaegar confronts Shaena and Daeron about why their letters never mentioned how sick Aerys had become. Shaena snaps that she spent years dealing with Aerys' shouting and used anger as a shield because she couldn't bear watching him deteriorate. Daeron quietly admits that he did notice, but he hid it to protect everyone. He didn't want Rhaegar to rush back and become Aerys's main target again, nor did he want the court to realize just how fragile the King had become.
-During this time, Rhaegar becomes friends with Jaime, who is forced to stand guard during many of the awful meetings with Aerys. They develop a quiet understanding because they're both trapped in the same miserable environment. It's a sad echo of what their fathers' relationship might have been before politics destroyed it. When Rhaegar accidentally intercepts a letter from Cersei to Jaime and discovers their affair, he quietly returns it without saying he read it. Later, he tells Jaime he knows. He doesn't judge or blackmail him, pointing out that Targaryen history is full of incestuous marriages anyway. But he tells Jaime the political reality: Cersei has to marry Daeron to secure Tywin's support and prevent war. Jaime, relieved that his secret is safe, reluctantly accepts and agrees to help Rhaegar.
-Rhaegar orders Daeron and Jaime to stage a public brawl and then convinces Aerys to send Daeron to Casterly Rock as a "ward" and punishment, suggesting they use him as a spy to report on Tywin. Aerys loves the idea because it separates Rhaegar from one of his closest brothers. Before Daeron leaves, Rhaegar and Jaime give him a letter explaining the whole plan to Tywin - that the brawl was just an act, that Rhaegar is allies with the STAB and that they want Tywin in. Once is Casterly Rock, Daeron and Tywin privatly discuss the terms. Rhaegar and Jamie's secret letter promise Tywin that when Rhaegar takes the throne, Daeron will be granted a permanent place on the Small Council. He accepts on the condition that Jaime is released from the Kingsguard once Rhaegar becomes king. Daeron then proceeds to charm the Westerlands while Aerys thinks he's spying on Tywin. Cersei is the only person unimpressed. She hates being forced to marry Daeron after losing Jaime and Rhaegar. Maggy the Frog's prophecy said she would be queen, but now she is forced to settle for a second son, which infuriates her to no end. Daeron finds her exhausting, and their initial relationship is all about barbs, verbal sparring and mutual dislike. But Daeron is the first man who treats her like a person rather than a piece of property, which confuses her. She's still Cersei, though: bitter, ambitious and toxic as hell.
-In Dragonstone, Elia plays the frail, sick wife to trick the Red Keep spies. But behind closed doors, she is anything but fragile. Under the guise of bringing Dornish healers and family comfort for her difficult pregnancy, she has her brothers arrive on the island. When Doran is briefed on Rhaegar's secret alliance with the STAB lords, he is deeply skeptical, pointing out the historical animosity between Dorne and the Marcher lords, as well as the inherent danger of trusting Tywin Lannister. He does not agree to help Rhaegar for free. Instead, he extracts a promise that Elia’s children will be secure. Since Rhaegar is marrying off his siblings to the other Great Houses, Doran demands that Elia’s daughter, Rhaenys, must be formally recognized as the undisputed heir to the Iron Throne regardless of her gender, and that a Martell will sit on the Small Council once Rhaegar takes the crown. He doesn't demand this out of progressive idealism, but because he knows Elia's health is fragile, and that if she and/or her baby dies in childbirth or she is unable to have more children, Rhaegar might be pressured to remarry. Ensuring Rhaenys' status protects Elia's line from ever being set aside or usurped by a future stepmother's children. Elia agrees completely. She also secures the loyalty of the Velaryons, Celtigars, Bar Emmon and Sunglass, giving Rhaegar a fleet ready to sail into Blackwater Bay if necessary. Meanwhile, Rhaegar's letters to Elia are all carefully coded: hidden within the text are updates on his progress and instructions for her to pass along to the Martells and the STAB alliance.
-Back in King's Landing, In King's Landing, Rhaegar discovers that Aegon and Jaehaerys' mischief can be useful. They know every nook, cranny, and secret passageway of the Red Keep after all. The boys stop causing destructive trouble because they want to impress their beloved older brother. Instead, they start sneaking around the castle and bringing him secrets Varys' little birds can't intercept, accidently becoming Rhaegar's tiny intelligence network. Viserys, for his part, becomes his little assistant and spends most of his time in the Tower of the Hand. One day, Aegon and Jaehaerys discover a sealed box hidden beneath a loose flagstone in an abandoned chamber of Maegor's Holdfast. They expect treasure. Instead, they find Jaehaerys II's journals, star charts and Valyrian scrolls. They can't read all the High Valyrian or complex astronomical charts, but they recognize Rhaegar’s name written repeatedly in their grandfather's hand. They bring it straight to Rhaegar's solar, eager to prove their worth to their older brother. The journals reveal that Jaehaerys II recognized Rhaegar's symptoms as dragon dreaming, and that he had intended to teach Rhaegar about the gift himself, but died when Rhaegar was only three. He'd also kept silent because he feared Aerys would exploit the child or become jealous, and feared the Faith or Citadel might try to destroy a new dragon dreamer. Rhaegar realizes his childhood illness wasn't a curse at all: it was a rare Valyrian gift, and the medical experiments were pointless torture caused by ignorance. He also realizes the vision of Lyanna was a genuine warning about a possible future. He is relieved, but bitter toward his grandfather for staying silent. He makes Aegon and Jaehaerys swear secrecy because the Faith would consider dragon dreams pagan sorcery. The journals are locked away in Rhaegar's chambers. What none of them known, is that in their excitement, Aegon and Jaehaerys were spotted by Varys birds carrying the lead box to Rhaegar's chambers. Varys decides not to steal it immediately. If the documents are truly important, their disappearance would warn Rhaegar that someone had searched his rooms. Better to wait.
-Meanwhile, the STAB alliance is quietly working on reforms. Jon Arryn and Rhaegar draft the Great Charter (a Magna Carta-like document), limiting the Crown's ability to seize property, make arbitrary arrests and impose sudden taxes (all of Aerys' favorite paranoid habits). But Varys is becoming their biggest problem. After Harrenhal, he expands his spy network instead of chasing individual conspiracies. Servants, singers, merchants, septons and stableboys all become potential informants. Ravens disappear, messengers are delayed and royal allies suddenly find themselves under suspicion. Rhaegar's side has to become increasingly creative just to stay ahead of the Spider. Despite this, the alliance slowly advance its marriage negotiations: Because Shaena is a rebel known for hunting in the Kingswood, Rhaegar tells her to use her "hunting trips" to secretly ride to the Stormlands border to meet Robert. Their first meetings are awful: she thinks he's a drunken womanizer, he thinks she's an inbred princess whose family caused his parents' deaths. Eventually they realize they're both stubborn, wild and hate being controlled. They drink, hunt, and argue, and Shaena makes it clear: "I will marry you to save my family, but if you bring your whores to my bed, I will give Storm's End it's own eunuch to match the Red Keep, and feed your manhood to the hounds." Robert comes to see her as terrifying but highly entertaining, developing a chaotic respect for her. Under Rhaegar's encouragement, Aegon and Jaehaerys start writing letters to Lyanna and Lysa, and to everyone's surprise, Aegon and Lyanna become adorable little pen pals who bond over pranks and avoiding lessons. Jaehaerys and Lysa exchange equally chaotic letters, and Lysa gradually stops resenting the arranged marriage (but alas, her one-sided love for Littlefinger doesn't dissapear).
-Rhaegar's second child, Aegon, is born in 282 AC. The birth nearly kills Elia and leaves her infertile. Aerys demands they return to King's Landing, clearly intending to use Rhaenys and the baby as leverage. He expects a submissive, bedridden Dornish princess and a meek toddler he can use as leverage over Rhaegar. Instead, he gets Rhaenys—a unstoppable storm in a small dress. Rhaenys possesses her grandfather's sharp, glare-heavy scowl, but without any of the malice. When Aerys attempts to intimidate her with a stern look, she simply scowls back at him with identical two-year-old intensity. The court, terrified of Aerys, has to hide their amusement as the King finds himself entirely unable to break a toddler's gaze. Rhaenys' black kitten, Balerion, is even worse. He aggressively scratches anyone who touches it except Rhaenys, routinely sneaks into Aerys’ private solar, knocks over stuff in his desk, and swipes at Varys' slippers. Because Aerys fears poison and hidden assassins, he freaks out every time Balerion bursts out of a tapestry. Yet, every time Aerys opens his mouth to yell, Rhaenys toddles in, scooped up the furious cat without receiving a single scratch, and proudly shows "Bally" to her grandfather. Because the cat belongs to his granddaughter, Aerys cannot easily execute the animal without looking completely unhinged to the rest of his family. Somehow, the absurdity of Rhaenys and Balerion starts bringing him out of his gloom.
-When Elia presents Doran’s terms to Rhaegar, Rhaegar agrees in principle because he loves Rhaenys and isn't obsessed with having a male heir. But he knows the Andal lords will hate the idea, so he keeps it secret from STAB for now. He finally tells Elia about his dragon dreams, his grandfather's journals and his vision on Harrenhall. When Elia asks if the visions can be wrong, Rhaegar admits they can. Dragon dreams show possibilities, not certainties. Rather than frightening Elia, the answer reassures her. If the future is not fixed, then they can still fight for a better one. She tells him to focus on Aerys and the STAB, saying she and his mother will find a way to secure Rhaenys inheritance. While Rhaegar manages his father and the Realm, his wife and mother establish the ultimate matriarchal front in the Red Keep. They find precedents for kings designating their heirs, and rather than trying to change Andal inheritance law across all seven kingdoms (which would outrage traditional lords), they draft a specialized decree: The Royal Right of Designation, specifically for House Targaryen. This principle asserts that the reigning monarch holds the absolute crown right to formally designate their direct heir, like Viserys I did. They deliberately avoid mentioning Rhaenyra because nobody wants to reopen THAT particular historical wound. Rhaella uses her standing with the Faith and noblewomen to frame the decree as royal authority rather than Dornish favoritism.
-In 283 AC, Aegon (son of Rhaegar and Elia) gets his first birthday celebration. Because it's the nameday of the Hand's son, the court is filled with high lords, including the STAB representatives. Aerys allows the feast because it shows "royal strength," though he stays seated on the High Table, barely touching his food and glaring at the crowd. Daeron arrives from Casterly Rock to give Rhaegar an update on Tywin’s stance, allowing the younger siblings to briefly reunite. Robert (still oficially engaged to Lyanna) drinks more than his fair share and flirts loudly with Shaena, who acts disgusted and annoyed, threatening to break his nose if he gets too close. The realm just sees standard Robert Baratheon behavior, while Aerys—a man who has five sons but holds a deeply protective, if chaotic, spot for his daughter—is burning holes through Robert with his eyes, until Jon takes the lord of Storm's End aside for a quick, hissed scolding. Oberyn Martell comes to see his sister and nephew and to know about the STAB's stance towards Rhanys as heir. Mace Tyrell, the oaf he is, loudly questions Rhaegar about when he will divroce Elia and marry again to produce another male heir, since his wife is now infertile. Rhaegar colly responds that Elia is not an object to be usded and discarded and that he is not a brood stallion, but the Prince of Dragonstone. Cue tense, awkward silence, until someone calls the musicians and Olenna drags her son by the ear to a corner.
-Behind closed doors before the main feast, Rhaella, Elia and Rhaegar present the Great Charter and Royal Right of Designation to the STAB lords. And everything immediately falls apart: Jon thinks Rhaegar is undermining his own reforms, wondering "Has the prince allowed his love for his daughter to cloud his judgment?" Hoster worries that setting aside traditional male preference for Rhaenys creates a dangerous precedent. Rickard is more sympathetic but worries Aegon might eventually challenge Rhaenys. Robert just shrugs and says that if the girl grows up half as formidable as Shaena, she can have the bloody chair. Unable to reach an agreement, the STAB lords refuse to sign or endorse the decree immediately, pulling out of the secret coalition entirely and leaving Rhaegar without a unified political front. Before leaving, Jon delivers a final argument: "Your Grace, you ask us to trust that you will use this right wisely. I do. Lord Stark does. Lord Tully may, in time. But laws are not written for wise kings—they are written for foolish ones. If you give one good king the power to choose any heir he wishes, you must also give that same power to every bad king who comes after him. You are trying to limit the Crown's authority with one hand, and expand it with the other. The Great Charter says: the king's powers should have clearer limits. The Royal Right of Designation says: the king should have absolute discretion over the most important decision in the realm."
-During the public toasts, Aerys rises to make a speech, but suffers a sudden, terrifying collapse right at the High Table. As panic breaks out, Rhaegar immediately steps in to secure the room and prevent rumors of poison from spreading. Rhaella takes control of Aerys' care, knowing that waking him surrounded by maesters and armed guards would destroy him psychologically. She stays beside him all night, feeding him broth and caring for him. Overwhelmed by his own vulnerability and the realization of how close he came to death, Aerys’ paranoid armor completely breaks down, turning into a desperate need for comfort, leading to a gentle, quiet night of intimacy between him and his sister-wife. When Rhaella is confirmed pregnant months later, the court goes INSANE with gossip. Because Aerys hasn't been seen intimate anyone in years, rumors briefly fly that the child isn't his. The realization that the King actually sought out his Queen leaves everyone shocked and fascinated. Aerys himself takes the pregnancy as a divine sign that his line is strong, and becomes slightly less miserable for a while. Daeron and Shaena are initially bewildered ("Another one?!"), and the younger siblings (Aegon, Jaehaerys, Viserys) are thrilled at the prospect of a new brother or sister. Rhaegar sees it with a touch of bittersweet poetry—knowing his father’s time is winding down, but that his mother will bring one last light into the world. While the family celebrates the queen's pregnancy, the prince deals with the disatruous fallout of Aegon's nameday: The meeting permanently damaged his relationships with the STAB lords and freezed years of hard work. He realizes he asked the lords the right thing in the wrong time: He asked them to rewrite sucession law before they'd even secured peace. Elia feels guilty for the outcome, thinking herself responsible for putting them in this situation. Rhaegar reassures her, saying she was only trying to protect her brother's interests. But the guilt remains.
-In 284 AC, Varys finally enters Rhaegar's solar and steals Jaehaerys II's journals. He reads enough to understand that they concern Rhaegar's visions, then puts them back before showing the box to Aerys. He deliberately gives Aerys only enough information to let his imagination do the rest. Aerys confronts Rhaegar in private, holding the journals, and the stress triggers a massive dragon-dreaming episode. Rhaegar collapses, muttering fragments like "Jon… Harrenhal… The Charter…" before passing out. Aerys interprets this as proof that Rhaegar has been using Valyrian sorcery to conspire against him. He has Rhaegar imprisoned in the Tower of the Hand, but keeps the dragon dreaming secret because he knows the Faith would declare his son cursed. Directed by Rhaegar's prior contingency orders, Jamie uses his Kingsguard authority and his secret alliance with the young Targaryen boys (Aegon and Jaehaerys) to move Queen Rhaella (who is pregnant with Daenerys), Elia, little Rhaenys, baby Aegon and the younger Targaryen princes (Aegon, Jaehaerys and Viserys) out of the Red Keep. They use the secret passageways mapped by Aegon and Jaehaerys to bypass Varys's spies and reach the harbor, where the loyal Velaryon and Celtigar fleets (arranged earlier by Elia) are waiting to take them to Dragonstone. During a fierce storm upon their arrival, Rhaella goes into labor and gives birth to Daenerys, with Elia serving as her midwife. Shaena, who refused to flee with the main group to Dragonstone despite Jamie's insistence, uses her knowledge of the King's Woods and secret tunnels to slip out of the Red Keep before Aerys can lock her down and rides hard for Storm's End to mobilize Robert Baratheon and signal the STAB alliance.
-As ravens fly from King's Landing in every direction, Varys ensures they do not all carry the same message: Some speaks of unlawful imprisonment, others hint that Rhaegar confessed to conspiracy. In Oldtown, the Faith receives word only that the Crown Prince had fallen gravely ill after dabbling in forbidden Valyrian practices. Across the Seven Kingdoms, every great house reacts with a different understanding of what had happened inside the Red Keep. Jon Arryn marches on King's Landing with the Vale forces to demand Rhaegar's release and call a Great Council, because if Aerys can imprison his own Hand without trial, no lord is safe. In Winterfell, Brandon thinks they should not go South, saying Rhaegar probably already told on them to Aerys and marching to King's Landing would mean delivering their own heads in a silver plate. But Lyanna reveals the dragonglass dagger, the signet ring, and confesses she was the Knight of the Laughing Tree, explaining that Rhaegar protected her and protected House Stark by keeping her secret safe, forcing Rickard to summon the northern forces and head to King's Landing for the prince who protected his daughter and his House. Lyanna refuses to stay behind, saying she will go south with her father and brothers to save Rhaegar. In the Stormlands, Shaena also refuses to be left behind while her brother is imprisoned, marching besides Robert to King's Landing. In Dorne, Oberyn wants immediate action against Aerys, furious at the king for putting his sister in danger. Doran restrains his brother, pointing out that Elia and her children are already out of Aerys' immediate reach. He sends Oberyn with a fast vanguard of Dornish ships straight to Dragonstone to aid Jamie Lannister in protecting the island, while Doran himself mobilizes the full military might of Dorne to exert maximum pressure on King's Landing without throwing spears blindly into a siege. In Casterly Rock, Daeron is beside himself with rage and fear for Rhaegar, demanding that Tywin march on King's Landing. Tywin gathers the Westerlands army but waits for the STAB forces to arrive first.
-Outside the walls of King's Landing, the war council is fiercely divided: Robert and Brandon want to storm the city. Jon and Rickard know that doing so could kill thousands and cause Aerys to execute Rhaegar. During the war council, Shaena and Lyanna meet for the first time and immediately recognize each other as kindred spirits. Then the rebels discover through a message from Rhaegar that Aerys has enough wildfire hidden beneath the city to destroy King's Landing if he decides he cannot hold it, and a small, stealthy squad is formed: Shaena, Lyanna, Ned, Brandon and Robert (in case they need to fight), plus a few elite men. Their goal is to disable the wildfire under the city and rescue Rhaegar before the armies can take the city. They enter through the tunnels underneath the city and eventually they find the wildfire chambers. The plan goes wrong when part of the chamber collapses and the wildfire begins to ignite. Brandon stays behind to disable the final mechanism and hold the others' escape route open, knowing he won't make it out. The others barely escape as the chamber starts to fall down, saving King's Landing from being burned but leaving Brandon Stark dead beneath the city. The destruction of the underground chumbers cause an earthquake-like tremor on the city above.
-When the surviving pyromancers tell Aerys about the destruction of the underground wildfire chambers and Brandon Stark's death, Aerys, terrified and trapped inside the Red Keep with armies outside, goes to Rhaegar’s chambers in the Tower of the Hand, dismissing the guards, throwing the crown at Rhaegar's feet and giving him his sword, telling Rhaegar to kill him so the lords can't display his body as a throphy. Rhaegar takes the sword and throws it aside, picking up the crown and placing it on Aerys head again, refusing to kill his own father. Rhaegar acknowledges Aerys’ pain, his trauma from Duskendale, and even forgives him for the childhood experiments. He also promises Aerys that he will not be locked in a tower or executed, but will be granted a dignified retirement in Maegor’s Holdfast. In return, Aerys has one final duty: use his final act as King to officially sign a royal decree recognizing Rhaenys as Rhaegar's legal heir, bypassing traditional Andal preference to secure Dorne's loyalty and seal the peace. Aerys LOVES the idea of spitefully making the Great Houses deal with a female heir, especially since he has a soft spot for his scowling granddaughter and her homicidal cat. He signs the decree. Just as Aerys presses his royal seal into the hot wax, Shaena and Lyanna burst into the room through a secret passage with drawn steel, followed closely by Ned holding his sword and Robert Baratheon holding his warhammer. Aerys panics and hides behind Rhaegar. Rhaegar immediately steps between them, tells everyone to put their weapons away and shows them the signed decree, explaining that his father has peacefully agreed to abdicate the throne in exchange for a quiet, dignified retirement.
-Instead of a sack, the gates of King's Landing open peacefully. The allied armies enter as witnesses rather than conquerors. Rhaegar announces Aerys' voluntary abdication and offers his sympathy to Rickard Stark and his children for Brandon's death, publicly acknowledging his sacrifice. Rickard accepts it, recorgnizing Rhaegar was not responsible for his son's death. Days later, Rhaegar is crowned by Aerys himself in the Sept of Baelor, in a deliberatly subdued ceremony. Afterwards, Rhaegar signs the Great Charter and publicly announces the Royal Right of Designation, formally making Rhaenys Princess of Dragonstone and heir to the Iron Throne. Her future firstborn will carry the Targaryen name, and her husband will be King Consort rather than King Regnant. The Faith, however, refuses to recognize the decree without conditions because Varys told Oldtown about Rhaegar practicing valyrian sorcery. Rhaegar is forced to admit that he's a dragon dreamer, though he insists it's a gift he never sought. The admission sends shockwaves through the gathered lords. The Faith demands he renounce his visions and undergo a Walk of Shame before they'll recognize Rhaenys' legitimacy. Rhaegar refuses, knowing that submitting would establish the Faith’s authority over the Crown. Aerys himself unexpectedly intervenes, publicly declaring that whatever gift or curse the gods gave Rhaegar, he is still a true Targaryen and the lawful king. While the Faith cannot challenge the legality of either Rhaegar's ascension or the Royal Right of Designation signed by Aerys himself, the revelation of the King's dragon dreams creates an immediate rift between the Iron Throne and the Faith of the Seven, who sees Rhaegar as spiritually tainted and Rhaenys as the daughter of a sorcerer and a second Rhaenyra.
-Days after the coronation, the royal fleet sails into Blackwater Bay, bringing the rest of the family back home to a secure Red Keep. Queen Rhaella arrives holding her newborn daughter, Daenerys Stormborn, followed closely by the boys Aegon, Jaehaerys and Viserys. Elia Martell returns with Rhaenys and baby Aegon, welcomed as the new Queen Consort. With peace established, the political marriages and fostering arrangements are carried out: To honor his promise to Tywin Lannister, Rhaegar names Daeron as Hand of the King and Daeron takes up residence in the Tower of the Hand with Cersei. However, Rhaegar refuses to release Jamie from the Kingsguard, because he knows that for all Aerys' paranoia, his father was always right about one thing: Tywin Lannister is not to be trusted. He instead makes Jamie Lord Commander of the Kingsguard after Gerold Hightower retires and forgives all the Westerlands debts to the Crown, framing it as a reward to House Lannister for Jamie's actions in protecting the royal family at Dragonstone, causing deep resentment in Tywin, who returns to Casterly Rock to plot anew. This also damages the relationship between Rhaegar and Jamie, as Jamie genuelly believed Rhagar would not use him as a political tool like Aerys did. They don't stop being friends, but things between them become formal. Shaena returns to the Stormlands with Robert, Aegon and Jaehaerys are sent to Winterfell and the Riverlands, and young Viserys remains at the Red Keep with his mother, older brothers and baby sister (whom he is aready protective of). Mace Tyrell notices that the Reach has been left out and begins suggesting a future marriage between his newborn daughter Margaery and Viserys. Rhaegar politely says he'll consider it when they're older. Olenna immediately realizes he's keeping the Reach interested without committing himself and starts considering an alliance with Tywin instead, secretly meeting with the lord of Casterly Rock (Remember THAT scene in GOT 03x06? Kinda like that). Before leaving King's Landing, Tywin also meets with Cersei to entrust her the role as House Lannister's eyes and ears in the capital, keeping him informed of Rhaegar and Daeron's every move, which Cersei accepts out of loyalty to House Lannister and the opportunity to plot against Rhaegar and his family to put Daeron on the throne, becoming queen like Maggy the Frog foretold - totally forgetting the part about loosing 3 children and being cast down by a more beautiful queen in the future (Rhaenys). She is quick to rekindle her relationship with Jamie, claiming she is the only person who cares about him and that Rhaegar just used him like everyone else.
-Aerys lives out his remaining years in a comfortable suite in Maegor’s Holdfast. Free from the crushing paranoia of ruling, his health gradually stabilizes. Rhaenys and Balerion regularly invade his rooms, and Aerys starts teaching his granddaughter statecraft, vigilance and how to recognize flatterers. Rhaegar teaches her diplomacy, honor and history. Between them, they are determined to make the future Queen Regnant impossible to fool.
-As for Varys, Rhaegar ordered his arrest shortly after the coronation, but naturally the Spider was already gone. He escaped to Essos and returned to Illyrio Mopatis. His plan to plunge Westeros into chaos and restore the Blackfyres has failed, but he's not done playing. And, because apparently this family isn't allowed to have ONE quiet political crisis at a time, word of Rhaegar's Great Charter reaches Balon Greyjoy. Balon sees a weakened royal regime and decides it's the perfect opportunity to revive the Old Way and make the Iron Islands independent.
So basically: Rhaegar spends his entire life trying to prevent the apocalypse, accidentally becomes the most politically competent Targaryen in generations, saves Lyanna from becoming his doomed love interest, turns his little brothers into a spy network, prevents Robert's Rebellion, accidentally creates a constitutional monarchy, saves his entire family, makes Rhaenys heir, pisses off the Faith, gives Aerys retirement, has his traumatized father eventually crown him, and leaves Varys, Balon, Olenna and Tywin as his next problems.
