Didn't think it looked like the same guy at all. That would be pretty poor casting.
Thought it was pretty solid casting as they looked just enough alike. Let's keep in mind that Viserys and Aerys are brothers and their parents were also brother and sister. You'd expect to see a strong resemblance.
It also didn't matter if the initial abduction was a lie, as by that point the Mad King had already basically pissed off all the major houses:
1. Jaime was named to the King's Guard, potentially forcing Tywin Lannister to name Tyrion (who he hated) as his successor.
2. The Mad King executed the warden of the North, Rickard Stark, and his son.
3. The Mad King then demanded that Jon Arryn hand over Eddard Stark. Arryn couldn't do that, as he'd sworn an oath to protect Eddard. This more or less forced Arryn's hand into rebellion.
But yes, Robert's Rebellion was based on lies, or at the very least a misunderstanding. The Mad King's actions made a war inevitable though. It seems as though the intention of some of the Starks was initially to talk things out, and I'm sure if they'd found out that the truth, and that Lyanna and her children were actually now heirs to the throne they would have been fine with it. The Mad King, however, just started executed all of the Starks for no apparent reason.
So the "kidnapping" of Lyanna was basically like the assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand. It was the event that started a war that was going to happen anyway. If Lyanna wasn't "kidnapped" Robert's Rebellion still would have happened in some form, just as WWI would have still happened in some form if Princip didn't pull the trigger.
__________________ "Calgary Flames is the best team in all the land" - My Brainwashed Son
So the "kidnapping" of Lyanna was basically like the assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand. It was the event that started a war that was going to happen anyway. If Lyanna wasn't "kidnapped" Robert's Rebellion still would have happened in some form, just as WWI would have still happened in some form if Princip didn't pull the trigger.
No, Robert's Rebellion or any Rebellion likely would not have happened without Lyanna's "kidnapping". Everyone in the realm seemed to love Rhaegar and were just waiting for the Mad King to die (or be ruled incompetent) so that Rhaegar could take over.
Once Lyanna disappeared, people began to wonder if Rhaegar was actually the sweet and caring man that they thought he was. Also, he disappeared and wasn't around to explain his actions, which left the Mad King to respond to things in his own way.
Because of all the alliances the Starks had, Lyanna was really the worst person who Rhaegar could have chosen. She had already been engaged to Robert Baratheon. Robert and Ned had grown up together at The Eyrie as wards of Jon Arryn. Ned's older brother had been engaged to Catelyn Tully, so there was already an alliance between the North and Riverlands too.
When the Mad King executed Ned's father and brother, the Starks, Arryns, Baratheons, and Tullys all joined together to declare war against the Crown. That was four of the nine main noble houses in Westeros. The Lannisters and Greyjoys stayed out of the conflict until after Rhaegar was defeated. That left the Tyrells and Martells on the side of the Targaryens.
If Rhaegar had instead run off with Cersei or a member of the House Tyrell or any other lower house, the reaction may have been very different and there may never have been a Rebellion. Hell, Tywin might have been happy if Rhaegar had run off with Cersei.
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Turn up the good, turn down the suck!
Not sure if this was mentioned early but apparently the reason why Bronn and Cersei were never in a scene together is because they were dating and had a bad breakup. Both their contracts states they can't be in a scene together. Would explain the weird Bronn scene where he went drinking instead of staying for the big meeting with Cersei.
Viserys and Rhaegar AND Dany all have the same colour hair (all Targaryens do, for the most part).
I would have thought that Jon's hair should be blonde/white then, like all Targaryens we have seen so far. It's odd that Lyann's Stark blood was strong enough to override that dominant Targaryen trait.
I would have thought that Jon's hair should be blonde/white then, like all Targaryens we have seen so far. It's odd that Lyann's Stark blood was strong enough to override that dominant Targaryen trait.
Or is it a recessive trait and the only reason it continued is because of all the incest going on in house Targaryen?
