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In Westeros it is popular belief that after taking a liking to Lyanna Stark, Prince Rhaegar kidnapped and raped her. However, the belief amongst fans seem to be that:

Lyanna also fell in love with Rhaegar and ran away with him by choice.

I understand that this theory cannot have just been drawn out of the blue but as a non book reader I have seen next to no evidence for this in the show.

So what evidence is there behind this theory?

DavidW
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Matthew Stevenson
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  • To start with, Ned mentions reaching Lyanna as she lay 'dying in blood'. All the Kingsguard were out fighting Ned & his men (and would have been unlikely to slaughter a woman even if she was 'kidnapped'). Ned was the first to reach Lyanna so it seems none of Ned's men would have slain her (even by accident) so why was she bleeding? A birth (of Jon Snow) would explain it. Lyanna also extracted a promise from Ned before passing, that he was very tight lipped about. What could it be other than to keep the (hypothetical) child safe from the king who swore to wipe out the Targaryen line? – Andrew Thompson Oct 23 '16 at 05:11
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    @AndrewThompson You understand that children can be born of rape? and I'm pretty sure Lyanna still would have wanted to protect it. – Matthew Stevenson Oct 23 '16 at 05:30
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    "You understand that children can be born of rape?" Yes, but then, women have always had ways of washing unwanted seed from their loins (Parisian prostitutes used a wine douche.) "I'm pretty sure Lyanna still would have wanted to protect it." Me, less so. She'd have known that her betrothed would not have wanted that baby. It would have made her less valuable as a potential queen to him. - Then there's the question of why the Kingsguard were even there, the (current) king wasn't, nor was prince Rhaegar. But if she was pregnant with Prince Rhaegar's son, that would justify their presence.. – Andrew Thompson Oct 23 '16 at 05:35
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    Here is a question with information http://scifi.stackexchange.com/q/46551/2256 – TLP Oct 23 '16 at 15:39
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    @AndrewThompson, she might not have been able to "wash" herself if he was keeping her prisoner. – Lumos Oct 23 '16 at 17:10
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    I don't think there's any hard evidence, just lots of little clues, like for example people who knew Rhaegar describing him as a true gent and a romantic; plus maybe Ned's attitude to Robert's lack of forgiveness of Rhaegar. The existence of the baby is NOT evidence - in ASOIAF the main/only birth control mentioned is "moon tea"/"tansy", which is tricky to prepare and must be taken not long after; a prisoner couldn't prepare it, and Ned wouldn't kill his sister's newborn only child after her death, no matter the circumstances of the conception. – user56reinstatemonica8 Oct 23 '16 at 21:50
  • Well there isn't any evidence of sorts which explicitly says that. There are only hints which have to be linked together to reach that conclusion. One thing is however clear that Jon isn't a bastard of Eddard as that's the question GRRM asked (_Who are Jon Snow's parents?) D&D before he agreed to sign the deal with HBO for the show. So given that show has already declared that to be true, R+L=J isn't a theory any longer but rather a fact – Aegon Oct 24 '16 at 07:54
  • You might wanna see Is there any tangible proof of Jon's lineage? and Why didn't Eddard Tell Catelyn about Jon's true parentage? – Aegon Oct 24 '16 at 07:57
  • Also of course, What's the story behind Lyanna and Rhaegar? – Aegon Oct 24 '16 at 07:59

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