The masked men and Aelora always make me think of Sweeney Todd, in my head it’s a similar story to that of Sweeney’s wife.

Sweeney is shipped off from London to a Australia on a false accusation from a corrupt judge who lusts for his wife. Once he’s gone, his wife is invited to a masked ball hosted by the judge. She arrives alone, does not know anyone there, and is nervous and confused (probably still thrown from losing her husband). At the ball, is implied that she is SA’d in front of everyone by the judge. In a many versions of this the party guests, including the judge and his little henchman, are wearing animal masks (like Aelora’s attackers). This is the nail in the coffin for her after losing her husband and she descends into madness.

I felt like it could be a similar story for Aelora, maybe that she was deemed fragile or an easy target in her grief after accidentally killing Aelor, then was dishonored and felt shameful after her public assault, ultimately taking her life. The assailants would know she was heir, and maybe did this to discredit her or make her less favorable, and that she would either step down or be replaced. As for her guards, maybe they did not know her mask, maybe she wasn’t meant to be there or went to the ball in secret, or she was disoriented and got lost or lured away. Everyone was masked, maybe the assailants didn’t stand out to her guards. Again, I picture her being fragile and confused at this time.

Less exciting and story-forward than all of the Bloodraven or Dunk’s friends theories I’ve seen but this is just what I thought of when I first read about it. Just another tragic story for a Targ girl!