ASOIAF/GOT WI: House Bolton Sides with House Targaryen during Robert’s Rebellion?

[TheRomanSlayer]

I’m surprised that during Robert’s Rebellion, there wasn’t a single house in the North that could have aligned with House Targaryen, since the rest of the Seven Kingdoms were a bit divided (well, the Reach might almost be wholly United) between supporters of the Mad King vs the Stark-Tully-Arryn-Baratheon led rebel forces.

I am also thinking as to why House Bolton didn’t declare for the Targaryens, since they could have usurped the Starks as the dominant house in the North, and would have done it on a more legal footing instead of the Red Wedding path. Militarily speaking, a pro-Targaryen uprising leading from the Dreadfort would have delayed the Stark led forces long enough for the Loyalists to suppress the rebellion.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

The Targeryans were a lost cause. Wasn't the king insane? Didn't he have explosives planted beneath the capital city? Even if the Boltons intercept/delay the Stark armies, it's still possible that the war could be close enough that fighting would take place near the capital and the Aerys would have the wildfire planted beneath the capital and try to have it blown up out of spite. So either Aerys gets shanked and the Targaryen dynasty collapses, meaning that the Boltons are suddenly surrounded and by themselves and would likely get wiped out... or the capital gets nuked, and the Targaryen dynasty collapses and the Boltons are doomed. In the event that Aerys is not defeated and the capital doesn't explode in green fire, the king is still insane and his reign will be unstable, and he probably won't inspire loyalty in people. More than likely people try to revolt or Aerys gets assassinated anyway. With Rhaegar as the last Targeryan, the dynasty is extremely vulnerable and it is almost certain everyone else will try to revolt against him. The odds of him managing to survive and win the war are grim. At this point, the Boltons have little reason to go down with the ship.

 

[Buba]

My most cynical answer - there was no good moment to do so.
The North was rock-solid behind the Starks and House Bolton could be eradicated.

 

[TheRomanSlayer]

Definitely.

Although I kinda felt that House Bolton would have the legal justification of emerging as the new rulers of the north, on the grounds that House Stark was rebelling against the crown, instead of taking over the North through treachery, as they did after the Red Wedding. Rhaegar as the new king would have been far worse than canon Robert during his reign, as the former would have dealt with massive rebellions, while the latter literally fattened himself to an early grave.

I would have said a similar thing, if the question was changed to House Frey siding with House Targaryen, but the only difference is that the Targaryens could rely on Loyalist houses in the Riverlands. The North and the Reach were pretty much the only entities that were fully united behind their respective factions.

Within House Boltons, they would only be able to rely on the Whitehills and maybe the Dustins and Ryswells.

 

[Buba]

Within House Boltons, they would only be able to rely on the Whitehills and maybe the Dustins and Ryswells.

Against Robb - yes. But not against Eddard fifteen years earlier.
Circumstances in 283 and 299 were different.

 

[ATP]

I’m surprised that during Robert’s Rebellion, there wasn’t a single house in the North that could have aligned with House Targaryen, since the rest of the Seven Kingdoms were a bit divided (well, the Reach might almost be wholly United) between supporters of the Mad King vs the Stark-Tully-Arryn-Baratheon led rebel forces.

I am also thinking as to why House Bolton didn’t declare for the Targaryens, since they could have usurped the Starks as the dominant house in the North, and would have done it on a more legal footing instead of the Red Wedding path. Militarily speaking, a pro-Targaryen uprising leading from the Dreadfort would have delayed the Stark led forces long enough for the Loyalists to suppress the rebellion.

Like other people said,nobody sane support madman.Rhaegar could keep kingdom together,but he would punish Boltons becouse of Lyanna.