why the hell do people assume that Rhaegar's annulment automatically makes his first two children bastards? They were conceived and born while their parents were officially husband and wife (otherwise there would have been nothing to annul), therefore they cannot be bastards by definition
It depends on the grounds of the annulment. If Rhaegar aimed to declare his first marriage with Elia initially not legitimate then his kids by her would be considered to be bastards. However he would need a very serious reason for this to even stand and considering the history of marriages in his family tree that would be one hell of a difficult thing to do. I think most people have in their minds King Henry VII and his treatment of Catherine of Aragon and the rest of his wives when they hear the term annulment here.
The problem here is how vaguely this term was used in the show without pointing out any potential implications. The writers only focused on a way to further push Jon’s legitimacy and his claim on the throne without actually thinking all the way through about how they presented what they used as a loophole to fit into their narrative. And since they did not bother with paying more attention to the details and honoring the background of their history as they should then the fans have every right to assume whatever they want when it comes to this. The writing here was superficial and messy and if we take under account only the show’s canon then Rhaegar is not filtered through a very positive light.
But in truth in his case depending on how the annulment was used this could not bring any implications to the line of succession.
This is not just about how Rhaegar treated Elia in a personal level or what happened after that. If we are talking about the annulment here we need to focus on the motives and the characters are play.
We know that Rhaegar fucked up but he was not known for cruelty. Even to his relationship with Elia. People spoke of his ‘noble’ intentions and all that but no where they speak of him as the kind of person that would be cruel and unjust to his own children.
For all we know this could be one way for Rhaegar to not go against the Faith by pushing polygamy that would be a very sensitive issue and more so since he wanted to overthrow his father and would need all the support he could get. That would also include the Martells so despite his divorce with Elia his two first heirs would still be backed up by the House Martell.
I think that at that point in time the Martells hardly cared about Rhaegar’s affair no matter how they truly view it. I think their priorities would be Elia and her kids. To ensure their safety and to promote and protect the interest of Elia and of her children. Both when it came to the imminent threat they were facing (Mad King and even the upcoming Rebellion) and their future position when it came to who would succeed the Mad King and Rheagar. This is very complicated and it becomes more so since Rhaegar married Lyanna and kept her in Dorne. In secrecy yes but how possible would it be for no one to know they were there? Especially the rulers of Dorne. That could not be a coincidence in my opinion. It is contradictory to Rhaegar’s interests so why especially Dorne? Something does not add up.
I think Rhaegar was searching for a convenient loophole to keep everyone happy in terms of power balance. Elia had to be returned to her family safe and sound but The Mad King kept her and their children with him so Rhaegar and the House Martell had to ensure their safety. Rhaegar had to give concessions at both sides while he was obviously still dangling along his obsessions with the prophecies and his potential feelings for Lyanna and his plans to overthrow Aerys (and probably wanted to be certain that he had three children before going up against his father in case he would not win. First he wanted to ensure that the prophecies would come to fruition before he would make his move. He went all wrong about it of course. He was absolutely certain that his House was secure no matter what the outcome of his plans would be. He could not imagine what was planned underneath his nose and what was coming. He already had heirs. Viserys was also alive. His third sibling -the third head of the Dragon from Aerys was in its way-. He took a lot of time. He did not see what was coming and how he and his House would be also betrayed (by the Lords he thought were supporting him) and the rebellion broke out by those that took advantage of his stalling and mistakes and obsessions).
As far the annulment goes he probably wanted to legitimize Jon in terms of legality and not in terms of succession before his first son. And also Rhaegar died before he knew the gender of his third child. He probably believed that he was going to have one more girl and that Aegon from Elia was the Prince from the prophecy. And so he probably aimed to give more legitimacy to his daughter from Lyanna too and make her equal with his other two children so all three of them would be united when their time to rise would come. I think he wanted to make sure that none of his children would be bastards and not the other way around.
Do not forget that Rhaegar was obsessed with the Dragon having three heads. That does not only mean that he would do anything to get the third child. It also means that he wanted above anything else and before anything else to ensure that he would have three children no matter what. That meant he cared for all three and believed that all three had a role to play to how the prophecies would unfold including anything concerning the Prince that was Promised and/or Ahor Ahai and the Long Night.
Ironically he was not that wrong. I know that his obsession make him seem nutty (which he probably was lol) but he was not wrong was he? The Long Night was coming. The signs were there. Magic was returning to the world. Either Jon is the Prince that was Promised or he is an intricate part of that prophecy in the end Rhaegar was right in believing that his child (if not children) would have a great role to the Great war. But prophecies are never clear and you cannot control them or even translate them accurately. And if the Dragon had to have three heads then in the show those that were left were Daenerys, Viserys and Jon and Viserys died and so did the dragon that was named after him and now belongs to the Night’s King. So the Dragon does have to have three heads (let us put a question mark in books for the whole Griff thing).
And in all that mess we are still to know what Elia’s stance was in all of this. We know how her story ended and we know how people decades later have portrayed her (as a victim, as collateral damage, as a loving mother, as a martyr and even a saint etc etc) but we hardly know anything about her true agency. About how her mind worked and how she was able to play the game. Before we victimize her and give all power to Rhaegar we should truly think of who Elia truly was. She was a Martell. She was the woman that rose to power through marriage and was meant to become a Queen and the mother of the future ruler of Westeros. She was brought up in a Kingdom with powerful individuals that accepted and respected women in position of power. Her siblings have been portrayed as empowered characters but all we know about Elia is that she was the victim of the story. And now an annulment is thrown at us carelessly. I feel that her voice is missing form all of this. In the same way I think that for example Margaery Tyrell’s true agency and voice will be missing in a few decades later and history will portray her as a different person from who she truly was. History is written by the victors after all and true facts and characters are lost in obscurity.
