Will Rhaegar Targaryen annul his marriage to Elia Martell in the Song of Ice and Fire novels?

In Game of Thrones season 7, we learned that Rhaegar Targaryen annulled his marriage to Elia Martell to marry Lyanna Stark. Will that happen in the novels?

In the Game of Thrones season 7 finale, “The Dragon and the Wolf,” we learned that Jon Snow was not, in fact, a bastard. Before Jon was born, his father, Rhaegar Targaryen, annulled his marriage to Elia Martell of Dorne so he could marry Jon’s mother, Lyanna Stark. Ergo, Jon is a proper Targaryen, and the legitimate heir to the Iron Throne to boot.

But, what does this mean for George R.R. Martin’s ongoing A Song of Ice and Fire series, the books on which Game of Thrones is based? Narratively speaking, the show has long since left the novels behind, and has shown us plenty of things that have yet to happen on the page. The Rhaegar-Elia annulment is one of them…maybe. Are we going to find out about it in The Winds of Winter or A Dream of Spring, or is it something the show invented? Thanks to some digging by fansite Los Siete Reinos, we may have a clue.

Back in 2000, shortly after A Storm of Swords hit bookstores, Martin had a conversation with a fan named Tigers14, a conversation archived by Westeros.org. Speaking about the marriage between Sansa and Tyrion, Martin made some interesting comments about annulment.

"Tigers14: By the way, can a marriage be annulled without both parties present? And without Sansa revealing who she really is?GeoRR: No one needs to be present to annul a marriage.Tigers14: How?GeoRR: But Sansa would need to request it.Tigers14: As sansa?GeoRR: Well, why would a High Septon consider a request from anyone but the parties involved?Tigers14: I mean she can’t hide who she is. She has to request that her marriage, her being sansa stark, to tyrion lannister be annulled. Which would imply that the High Septon would need to know that Sansa Stark is requesting the annulment of her marriage.Tigers14: Which would reveal, to a certain extent, where Sansa is.GeoRR: Yes indeed."

So if only one half of a married couple needs to request an annulment, Rhaegar could have done it without Elia’s input. As we saw on the show, High Septon Maynard was there to take the request and perform the ceremony, so they had that part covered, as well. It seems like this development is very possible in the forthcoming novels.

Just for laughs, feel free to keep reading Martin’s conversation with Tigers14, wherein the fan correctly guesses the reveal of Jon’s true parentage a full 17 years before HBO confirmed it:

"Tigers14: Another question, can Night’s Watch vows be annulled if a person had no idea who he really was when he took them?GeoRR: Who had no idea who he was?Tigers14: Jon.GeoRR: Jon knows who he is. He may not know who his mother is, but that’s not the same thing. There are plenty of orphans and bastards in the Watch who don’t know who their parents are.Tigers14: Yes. But if Jon is the legitimate son of Rhaegar and Lyanna , he is the king of Westeros.GeoRR: well, you know I am not going to get into any of that.GeoRR: I think I’ve said enough for tonight."

Martin has been dodging these questions for literally decades.

Hopefully, The Winds of Winter will come out this year, and we’ll get an answer to this question.

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