Post by haloid on Apr 27, 2017 21:39:16 GMT
The "about a year" reference of time is not wholly unsubstantiated and could have still happened. What the Worldbook reveals to us is that Rhaegar departed Dragonstone somewhere at the beginning of 282 AC. Also, according to the Worldbook on he departed on a journey that would ultimately lead him back to the Riverlands. The only issue is that we don't know if he went to the straight to the riverlands or what he was up to during said journey.
We have to fit quite a bit of activity into this window, and then we have to match up this window to the time in which Brandon Stark was alive... as we know he rode around the Red Keep, demanding that Rhaegar "Come out and die!" following Lyanna's disappearance.
We know Rhaegar left Dragonstone and Lyanna disappeared an unknown amount of time later. So if he went straight there then (meaning he most likely went with express intention of leaving with Lyanna thus he went directly after her) that makes the 2-3 month period of time more likely but if he went other places before ultimately returning to the riverlands (e.g. he ran into Lyanna on his travels) then we could be looking at a time frame of 2-10 months before he ran into Lyanna. It really hinges on what he was up to.
When reconciling any series of events, the timeline becomes crucial. Hence this ever-evolving OP. But when it comes to Lyanna's disappearance and death, the timeline is of peak importance. It can make or break candidates for parentage, as well as possible offspring.
While I am fond of N+A=J, I am far from sold on it. I strongly lean towards the theory that Lyanna was Jon's mom. But this N+A=J video from orderofthegreenhand does a very nice job of breaking down some common misconceptions in the timeline of events, as well as highlighting some findings that were new (or at least, "new" to me).
I'll link it to start at the 2:42 mark. Regardless of the parentage scenario you prefer, it is quite informative.
So Brandon has to vanish. Rickard has to march 200 men to Kings Landing from the Riverlands and get executed an unknown amount of time later. Ned has to travel North through some mountains, call his banners, wait for banners, march banners back down south to the Stoney Sept which is in the lower Riverlands which will take a while. Robert has to travel to the Stormlands, call his banners, wait for his banners, fight three battles, march the remainder of his army north to the Stoney Sept in the Riverlands. At least some of the events had to have happened in 282 in my mind at least for the timeline to make any sense.