Rhaegar's Jousting at Harrenhal

In this post I want to take a look at Rhaegar's jousting skills in general and take a look at what exactly happened (from a jousting perspective) at the Tourney at Harrenhal.

Note: All I am doing here is questioning if Rhaegar actually "won" the joust, everything else about the story can still remain the same.

Background

While unconfirmed the Tourney at Harrenhal was likely supposed to be where plans were put in motion to remove Aerys and instate Rhaegar as king of the realm. But this went astray not only because Aerys chose to attend the Tourney, but also because Rhaegar lost a ton of his support by naming Lyanna the Queen of Love and Beauty (because he cared more about three heads of the dragon/prince that was promised than the politics of the realm/his wife/the Iron Throne).

So instead we get three factions: Rhaegar's Men, Aery's Men and the STAB alliance.

The Jousting

We get two jousters who perform well above their station. Obviously we get the Knight of the Laughing Tree (which makes sense) because of magic and:

Jousting is mainly horsemanship:

Jousting was three-quarters horsemanship, Jaime had always believed. Ser Loras rode superbly, and handled a lance as if he'd been born holding one -AFFC, Jaime II

and:

"You ride like a northman, milady," Harwin said when he'd drawn them to a halt. "Your aunt was the same. Lady Lyanna. But my father was master of horse, remember." -ASOS, Arya III

but Rhaegar also performs way better than usual (he did well at other tourneys, it just wasn't his thing). Prince Rhaegar was not normally a jouster:

The crown prince, who did not normally compete in tourneys, surprised all by donning his armor

but somehow manages to win the competition:

Prince Rhaegar emerged as the ultimate victor at the end of the competition. The crown prince, who did not normally compete in tourneys, surprised all by donning his armor and defeating every foe he faced, including four knights of the Kingsguard. In the final tilt, he unhorsed Ser Barristan Selmy, generally regarded as the finest lance in all the Seven Kingdoms, to win the champion's laurels. -TWOIAF, The Fall of the Dragons: The Year of the False Spring

we already know that several members of the kingsguard were on Team Rhaegar: Oswell Whent, Luwin Martell and Arthur Dayne (If interested: Some Thoughts on Rhaegar's Six Closest Friends).

Since Jaime was sent back to King's Landing, and we have it confirmed that Rhaegar beat Arthur/Barristan that means that we have a 50/50 shot at Rhaegar getting matched with his "friends" in Whent/Martell as compared to the White Bull or Darry.

Let's also keep in mind that the Tourney was setup by Whent and therefore the matchups could be controlled:

Old Lord Whent had announced the tourney shortly after a visit from his brother, Ser Oswell Whent of the Kingsguard. -ADWD, The Kingsguard

Throwing A Tourney

As I mentioned above, Rhaegar didn't normally compete in tourneys, and while he did transform himself from a bookish/sad boy into a more martial man ("I must become a warrior"), him winning this tourney doesn't make perfect sense due to the talent he was facing:

"Prince Rhaegar's prowess was unquestioned, but he seldom entered the lists -ASOS, Daenerys IV

we should note that tourneys in the ASOIAF universe are thrown ALL THE TIME:

"Have you heard me name myself a champion? That way lies renown. I would sooner have the pox. Thank you, but no. **I shall win my next joust, aye, but in the final I shall fall. -**The Mystery Knight

and:

If any man upon the field felt worse than Dunk this morning, it had to be Lord Caswell, who had drunk himself insensible at the feast. "It's a wonder he can sit a horse, after last night," said Dunk. "The victory is yours, ser."

"Oh, no." Ser Kyle smiled a silken smile. "The cat who wants his bowl of cream must know when to purr and when to show his claws, Ser Duncan. If His Lordship's lance so much as scrapes against my shield, I shall go tumbling to the earth. Afterwards, when I bring my horse and armor to him, I will compliment His Lordship on how much his prowess has grown since I made him his first sword. That will recall me to him, and before the day is out, I shall be a Caswell man again, a knight of Bitter-bridge."

There is no honor in that, Dunk almost said, but he bit his tongue instead. Ser Kyle would not be the first hedge knight to trade his honor for a warm place by the fire. "As you say," he muttered. "Good fortune to you. Or bad, if you prefer." -The Mystery Knight

and:

"No." The boy flushed. "There was a price. He'd take me into his service, he said… but first I would have to prove my loyalty. He would see that I was paired against his friend the Fiddler next, and he wanted me to swear that I would lose."

Dunk believed him. He should have been shocked, he knew, and yet somehow he wasn't. -The Mystery Knight

and:

"I might, if I had a castle. If truth be told, I prefer a good inn. Castles cost too much to maintain. No, the service I would require of you is that you face me in a few more tourneys. Twenty should suffice. You can do that, surely? You shall have a tenth part of my winnings, and in future I promise to strike that broad chest of yours and not your head."

"You'd have me travel about with you to be unhorsed?"

Just giving some examples (there are more) of characters being willing to throw a joust. It should also be noted that members of the kingsguard cannot harm the royal family. While jousting is different, it is still worth noting.

Barristan's Account

We get Barristan's POV and while characters due repress memories and are unreliable narrators at points, for this theory to work, there should at least be hints in Barristan's chapters. I tried to find the best evidence possible (there wasn't much):

If he had not gone into Duskendale to rescue Aerys from Lord Darklyn's dungeons, the king might well have died there as Tywin Lannister sacked the town. Then Prince Rhaegar would have ascended the Iron Throne, mayhaps to heal the realm. Duskendale had been his finest hour, yet the memory tasted bitter on his tongue.

It was his failures that haunted him at night, though. Jaehaerys, Aerys, Robert. Three dead kings. Rhaegar, who would have been a finer king than any of them. Princess Elia and the children. Aegon just a babe, Rhaenys with her kitten. Dead, every one, yet he still lived, who had sworn to protect them.

This is probably Barristan referring to his ability but it could be taken as being about his honor:

If I had been a better knight … if I had unhorsed the prince in that last tilt, as I unhorsed so many others, it would have been for me to choose the queen of love and beauty …

and:

No good came from silence either. If I had unhorsed Rhaegar and crowned Ashara queen of love and beauty, might she have looked to me instead of Stark?

He would never know. But of all his failures, none haunted Barristan Selmy so much as that. -ADWD, The Kingbreaker

I think this quote makes it somewhat unlikely:

Perhaps by now he should have grown used to such things. The Red Keep had its secrets too. Even Rhaegar. The Prince of Dragonstone had never trusted him as he had trusted Arthur Dayne. Harrenhal was proof of that. The year of the false spring. -ADWD, The Kingbreaker

but Barristan does hesitate here:

Dany did not want to hear about Rhaegar being unhorsed. "But what tourneys did my brother win?"

"Your Grace." The old man hesitated. "He won the greatest tourney of them all."

I hope you enjoyed this extremely speculative post. I want to note that I don't think it is true to be honest, unless we get some more definite info, but I thought I would share.

TLDR: Rhaegar's jousting at Harrenhal seems a little better than he was known for and since jousts seem to be thrown more frequently than you would think, its possible that he had the tourney thrown in order to win so he could name Lyanna the Queen of Love & Beauty.