Elia Martell

That position changes as Liana gets more into prophecy, as she searches for a meaning for all that has happened.

Elia writes to Lyanna, entreating her to encourage Rhaegar to join the war, and Geralt Hightower, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, arrives on the orders of Aerys to summon him to lead the army.

Geralt stays and is there when Ned arrives later, because Rhaegar makes him staying a condition of Rhaegar going to King's Landing.

Another minor mystery solved.

Whatever the reasons in the stage play, it's clear that Robert did not defeat Rhaegar in single combat.

Rhaegar embraced death and his destiny as he saw it.

Elia is way more engaged in the plot and politics than previously revealed.

Firstly, and quite importantly, Elia's marriage to Rhaegar was always a political marriage.

Messengers ride south across the mountains to Sunspear, bearing offers Dornish ears have longed to hear.

Stannis promises vengeance against Tywin Lannister to avenge Elia Martell and her children.

He promises Dornish men high office and influence equal to any other kingdom.

With the Tyrells gathering around Renly, the Dornish have less cause to rally around him.

And we learn later in A Dance with Dragons that during the stay at the house with the Red Door, Sir Willem Darry had arranged a secret marriage pact between Viserys and Arianne Martell when the two came of age, in exchange for Dornish spears supporting Viserys' return to the throne.

Rhaegar's wife had been Elia Martell, so in addition to sharing an ancestor some five or so generations back, the two houses had shared trauma, with good reason to try and overthrow Robert.

This secret pact, which would have been viewed as treason by the crown, was signed for the Targaryens by Willem Derry and for the Martells by Prince Oberyn Martell.

And the Sealord of Braavos also signed the pact, which is an interesting detail in the discussion about where exactly the house with the red door was.

He speaks of a realm losing balance, of a crown beholden to gold, of a hand who serves his name before the kings.

to Stark Stannis warns that Robert is surrounded by Lannisters and in a hidden section speaks of the evidence he's gathered about the Lannister children and how Jon Arryn suspected the same thing too to Prince Doran he tells him of how he knows the Dornish crave justice for Elia and sympathize with them promising to grant it Meanwhile, Renly plays a different game.

Young, charming, and far more perceptive than many realize, he sees an opportunity not in open defiance, but in quiet manipulation.

He watches Joffrey, still just a boy but desperate for autonomy.

each other, not after the sack of King's Landing.

Though you have little reason to support my claim, I have come with a promise of justice for what has befallen your house.

The deaths of Elia

Martell and her

Though he's not hostile, his friendship with Ned can prevent him from cultivating an alliance.

Dorne is hostile due to the death of Elia Martell and her children.

This only leaves the Riverlands and the Reach as potential allies.

It is decided that Jaime shall wed Margaery Tyrell and Cersei Edmund Tully to gain their allegiance.

A rare sense of urgency marked his otherwise serene movements.

He spoke with former retainers of House Dayne, bribed archivists at the Citadel, and consulted those who remembered Elia Martell and the fate of her children.

The conclusion, though terrifying in its implication, was clear.

Jon Snow was no bastard.

So is that the king's justice that I have heard so much about? Arresting those who don't agree with him? No different than Lannister justice.

I am sure Elia Martell would be smiling down from heaven when she sees it.

Besides, it is not as if Robert wasn't looking for any excuse to get rid of her at this point.

Of course, while he will be the one to dismiss her, it would be your inaction that seals her fate, and your decision to speak up that can save her.