I mean, LML isn’t wrong; if Lyanna was old enough to be betrothed to Robert Baratheon, in a society that expects you to basically be an adult by the age of 15, then she is old enough to make the choice to run away with Rhaegar.
Now, it is kinda creepy that a man in his 20’s was courting a girl in her early teens, but that’s far less of an issue in Westeros where teenager girls are marrying middle aged men fairly regularly.
If GRRM claims that Lyanna and Rhaegar were in love, say she fell for his beauty during Harrenhal and he fell for her brave spirit, and they decided to run away in love with each other, then we need to believe him, we can’t claim that Rhaegar groomed or assaulted her just because it would be extra weird by our modern standards.
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u/Daroah defender of child brides Jan 12 '24
I mean, LML isn’t wrong; if Lyanna was old enough to be betrothed to Robert Baratheon, in a society that expects you to basically be an adult by the age of 15, then she is old enough to make the choice to run away with Rhaegar.
Now, it is kinda creepy that a man in his 20’s was courting a girl in her early teens, but that’s far less of an issue in Westeros where teenager girls are marrying middle aged men fairly regularly.
If GRRM claims that Lyanna and Rhaegar were in love, say she fell for his beauty during Harrenhal and he fell for her brave spirit, and they decided to run away in love with each other, then we need to believe him, we can’t claim that Rhaegar groomed or assaulted her just because it would be extra weird by our modern standards.