A Song of Ice and Fire So Far Part 4: Swords and Crows

This post concludes my look at the story so far for A Song of Ice and Fire, ahead of the arrival of the fifth book.

Note, if you are watching the TV series alone this article contains spoilers of such magnitude that your eyeballs will be sucked out of their sockets and catapulted into low orbit where they will hit the International Space Station and make it explode. Do not read on unless you want the entire future outcome of the TV series spoiled for you in detail.

Awesome.

A Storm of Swords
The newly-allied Lannisters and Tyrells have smashed Stannis Baratheon's attempt to take the Iron Throne, destroying much of his army and navy in a huge battle on the Blackwater Rush and the surrounding shores. King Joffrey Baratheon gave thanks to his new allies and agreed to uphold the bargain brokered by Littlefinger: he set aside Sansa Stark and became betrothed to marry Margaery Tyrell instead. Curious as to what sort of man Joffrey was, Margaery's grandmother, the noted 'Queen of Thorns', interrogated Sansa closely on Joffrey's character and nature, and was not impressed by what she had heard.

At the Fist of the First Men, the gathered strength of the Night's Watch waited for word from Qhorin Halfhand and Jon Snow, but they came under attack by both wights and the Others themselves. Samwell Tarly, to his own shock, killed an Other with an obsidian blade, part of a cache found under the Fist. The Night's Watch retreated to Craster's Keep, home of the wildling Craster who was a friend of the Watch, but there some of Lord Commander Mormont's men turned on him and murdered him. Craster was also killed. Chaos erupted and the Watch scattered. Sam escaped with one of Craster's daughter-wives, Gilly, and they fled south to the Wall. News of the disasters reached Castle Black, and Maester Aemon sent out ravens to the various kings begging for aid.

The original UK cover of the one-volume Storm of Swords (and Part 1 of the two-volume edition), art by Jim Burns.

Meanwhile, Catelyn Stark had decided to unilaterally release Jaime Lannister from imprisonment in Riverrun in return for Jaime ensuring that Arya and Sansa were returned to her, banking on Brienne of Tarth to escort Jaime to King's Landing and her daughters back. However, Cat's actions angered her brother, Edmure, who sent men to recapture Jaime. Jaime and Brienne escaped, sinking one of the riverboats pursuing them, but were apprehended by the Brave Companions, sellswords who had served Lord Tywin Lannister who had gone over to the Starks. The leader of the Companions, Vargo Hoat, cut off Jaime's sword hand on a whim and made Brienne fight a bear for his amusement, though Jaime intervened and, even one-handed, killed the bear. At Harrenhal, Lord Roose Bolton made clear his displeasure at Hoat's actions. Jaime was treated most courteously by Lord Roose, who had sent a large number of troops south-east to sack Duskendale, a bold but foolish move due to the proximity of King's Landing and the large Tyrell and Lannister armies. Roose allowed Jaime and Brienne to return to King's Landing, escorted by Qyburn, a maester of dubious repute. Before departing, Jaime asked Roose to pass on his regards to Robb Stark.

Returning to Riverrun from their campaign in the Westerlands, Robb Stark and Brynden Tully expressed their displeasure to Edmure. Edmure was supposed to allow the Lannister armies to pursue Robb and fall into a trap which would have either destroyed them or left them too far west to aid King's Landing when Stannis attacked. Edmure was angry in turn, as no-one bothered to fill him on the plan. The news of Winterfell's destruction - which Ramsay Snow had blamed on Theon Greyjoy, who was now his prisoner at the Dreadfort - filled the northmen with disquiet and Robb reluctantly agreed that he needs to abandon the military campaign in the south. He must withdraw to the North, retake Winterfell and make further plans from there. Unfortunately, this meant abandoning the Riverlands to the Tyrells and Lannisters. The river lords vowed to fight on in his name. Unfortunately, Robb's plan has been complicated by an unforeseen event: after being wounded in the assault on the Crag, the stronghold of House Westerling, and hearing of the deaths of his two brothers, Robb was 'comforted' by Jeyne Westerling. Robb married her out of honour, but in doing so broke his marriage contract with the Freys. As a result, House Frey had withdrawn its troops back to the Twins. In addition, Robb was forced to execute Lord Rickard Karstark for plotting to murder Jaime Lannister whilst he was a prison, losing him the support of the Karstarks as well.

The original art of the second volume of A Storm of Swords, by Jim Burns.

Arya Stark and her friends, fleeing north from Harrenhal, ran into the Brotherhood Without Banners, a group of 'outlaw' knights and fighters led by Lord Beric Dondarrion and the red priest, Thoros of Myr, as well as containing some of Lord Eddard's household guard from Winterfell. They were sent out by Eddard Stark to arrest Gregor Clegane before the Lannister coup. Bereft of orders from Eddard and not recognising the authority of Joffrey, they had fought against the Lannister armies in the Riverlands as an independent unit, mostly concerned with protecting the smallfolk. The Brotherhood welcomed Arya into their ranks, but were reluctant to go to Riverrun and hand her over to Catelyn and Robb, not wanting to officially ally with Robb's forces. They also encountered Sandor Clegane, who had fled the Blackwater in terror. They prepared to execute Sandor for his own crimes, but he demanded trial by battle and killed Beric. Astonishingly, Thoros was able to resurrect Beric using magic, though Beric seemed more distant and withdrawn afterwards. They let Sandor go. After marching around the Riverlands a few times, Arya got tired and broke off to head to Riverrun by herself, but Sandor Clegane caught her. He decided to take her home himself and collect a reward.

At Dragonstone, Stannis Baratheon was in a grim mood. The storm lords had gone over to Joffrey, leaving him with only a handful of troops and a few ships left. Any realistic chance of him claiming the Iron Throne appeared to be gone, and it was only a matter of time before the Tyrells and Lannisters assaulted Dragonstone and Storm's End directly. He debated strategy with Davos Seaworth, whom he had made his new Hand, and with the red priest Melisandre, to no avail. Davos decided to learn how to read, helped by Stannis' maester, whilst Melisandre drew some of Stannis' blood and vowed that she could curse Robb Stark, Balon Greyjoy and Joffrey Baratheon to ensure their deaths.

The current UK cover for A Storm of Swords, Part 1, art by Larry Rostant.

Robb Stark's host joined with Roose Bolton's army. Robb was aghast to hear that a large number of Stark troops were killed in a futile assault on Duskendale, which Roose blamed firmly on the impudence of their commanders. Robb noted that the ironborn had taken Moat Cailin, blocking the way back into the North, and that Moat Cailin had never fallen to assault from the south. He decided to send Lady Maege Mormont and Lord Galbart Glover into the Neck to find Greywater Watch, the stronghold of Lord Howland Reed, his father's best friend, and use the Reeds' knowledge to outflank the castle. He also needed to win back the Freys, which he planned to do by offering Edmure's hand in marriage in place of his own and making an abject apology to Lord Walder. Maege and Galbart depart, and the remainder of Robb's host headed for the Twins.

Walder Frey accepted Robb's proposal and a great feast was held to celebrate the wedding. However, during the ceremony Catelyn noticed that the Bolton and Frey men had secretly armed and armoured themselves. She tried to warn Robb, but the Boltons and Freys turned on the Stark forces and butchered them, though not without sustaining some losses themselves. Roose Bolton sent Robb Stark regards from Jaime Lannister and stabbed him through the chest, killing him. Catelyn took a hostage, an idiot grandson of Walder Frey's, and trid to bargain to no avail. She killed her hostage and was killed in turn by the Frey troops.

The current UK cover art for Part 2, by Larry Rostant.

News of the 'Red Wedding' began to spread and Sandor and Arya turned away from the Twins and fled down the Trident. They found several troops loyal to Sandor's brother Gregor in an inn and kill them, but Sandor was badly wounded. Arya harshly left him to die and made her way down the river to the mouth, where she found a Braavosi merchant ship at anchor. Using a phrase and a coin given to her by Jaqen H'Ghar, Arya was able to convince the crew to take her to safety beyond the Narrow Sea.

At Pyke on the Iron Islands, Balon Greyjoy was swept off a rope bridge by a high wave, killing him. The next day, his brother Euron, the infamous pirate and reaver known as the Crow's Eye, sailed into Lordsport, sat himself down in Pyke Castle and declared himself King in his brother's place. Thus act pulled the Greyjoys back from their various conquests: Asha Greyjoy returning from Deepwood Motte and Victarion back from Moat Cailin. To avoid the threat of an internal feud over the Driftwood Chair, the priest Aeron Greyjoy called a kingsmoot to decide on the new king. To Aeron's horror, the godless Euron won the moot and was confirmed as king after producing a horn from Valyria that he claimed could control dragons. Victarion reluctantly sweared loyalty to Euron, whilst Asha fled back to Deepwood Motte with her loyal retainers and Aeron began gathering opponents to Euron unhappy with his lack of piety to the Drowned God.

The original American cover of Swords, art by Stephen Youll.

At King's Landing, news of Robb and Balon's deaths reached the capital and was met with jubilation, with the expectation of total victory now close at hand. Lord Tywin took over as Hand of the King from the wounded Tyrion, whom he now married to Sansa Stark to give the Lannisters a claim to Winterfell. However, Tyrion, feeling sorry for the captive Sansa, refused to consummate the marriage. The rest of the castle rapidly learned of this and he became a laughing stock. In an attempt to win the Vale to their cause, Littlefinger volunteered to marry Lysa Arryn, who had been infatuated with him since childhood, and set out for the Eyrie. Shortly after this Oberyn Martell, the Red Viper, arrived at the city with a number of Dornish retainers to take up the small council seat promised to House Martell by Tyrion, and also to claim Gregor Clegane's head for the rape and murder of his sister Elia during the Sack of King's Landing.


The marriage of Joffrey and Margaery was held, and Joffrey and Tyrion clashed several times during the feast. Joffrey suddenly began choking and then died, apparently the result of poison. Cersei had Tyrion seized and charged with the crime, whilst Sansa, aided by Littlefinger (who had secretly remained behind whilst everyone thought he was in the Vale), escapes the city by ship. Tyrion considered asking for trial by battle, but knew that Cersei would name Gregor her champion, a prospect that scared off most potential champions, including Bronn. Oberyn Martell had no such fears, however, and in a fierce battle he was almost victorious, using a poisoned spear to badly wound Gregor. Gregor was still able to kill Oberyn by smashing his skull, and Tyrion was condemned to death.

The cover of the first part of the two-volumed limited edition, with art by Charles Vess. This is the unused Meisha Merlin edition of the book; the SubPress version has the same art but different lettering.

Jaime and Brienne reached King's Landing to find the situation volatile. The Dornish were furious with Oberyn's death, whilst Tywin had to negotiate a new marriage pact for Margaery, this time with Joffrey's young brother Tommen. In addition, Ser Loras Tyrell believed that Brienne was responsible for Renly's death, and ordered her locked up. Jaime found both Sansa and Arya missing, so was unable to send them back to Catelyn, which of course was moot once news of her death was known. Fed up with being told what to do by his father and sister, Jaime resolved to be the best Lord Commander of the Kingsguard he could be. To start with, he convinced Loras to release Brienne. Giving her the reforged Valyrian steel sword Oathkeeper (reforged from Eddard's own sword, Ice), Jaime asked her to travel the Riverlands, find Arya and Sansa and get them to safety, somewhere.

On Dragonstone, Davos Seaworth, fearing that Melisandre would demand the life of King Robert's bastard son Edric Storm to fuel her magic, sent Edric away in secret. He then took Aemon's letter from the Night's Watch to Stannis and Melisandre and read it to them. Melisandre, who believed a great war was raging between R'hllor, Lord of Light, and the Great Other, the god of dark and cold, realised that the struggle had already begun beyond the Wall. She convinced Stannis to take ship for Eastwatch-by-the-Sea with all his remaining strength. His remaining five thousand men were not enough to continue his claim for the throne in the south, but could make all the difference on the Wall.

Jon Snow, a captive of the wildlings, was taken by Mance Rayder, the King Beyond the Wall, and convinced him of his newfound loyalty. Rayder in turn revealed that the wildling clans and tribes had been driven south by the invasion of the Others. Rayder was looking for the Horn of Winter, the legendary artifact that could bring down the Wall, though he planned to take it intact to use as a defensive fortification. To this end, he ordered Jon and a group of wildlings to scale the Wall, loop round and take the almost-unmanned Castle Black from the south and allow the wildlings through. However, once over the Wall, Jon fled back to Castle Black and raised the small garrison, organising a defence that saw most of the raiding party killed, including his lover Ygritte. Jon began preparing defenses against the main wildling assault, aided by the survivors of the massacre on the Fist of the First Men who were trickling back in.

Bran Stark, fleeing the sack of Winterfell, headed north with his loyal servant Hodor and the two children of Howland Reed, Meera and Jojen. Jojen had the 'greensight' and determined that Bran must go north of the Wall and find the three-eyed crow who had spoken to him in his dreams. They reached the Wall at the castle known as the Nightfort but could find no way through until Samwell Tarly and Gilly came through the gate. They had been escorted to the Nightfort by a strange warrior named Coldhands, who was expecting Bran and his friends. Samwell and Gilly returned to Castle Black, having agreed not to speak of the incident, whilst the enigmatic Coldhands led Bran north.

The cover of the second volume of the Subterranean Press limited edition, art by Charles Vess.

The wildlings assaulted the Wall in force, using giants, mammoths, siege weapons and battering rams. Despite some minor successes, they were halted by Jon's defenses. Jon's work was nearly undone when Alliser Thorne and Janos Slynt arrived from King's Landing and had him arrested for the alleged murder of Qhorin Halfhand. They sent him out as a suicidal assassin to kill Mance Rayder under a flag of true, but instead the wildling army was routed by the arrival of Stannis' five thousand troops. Mance Rayder was captured and some of his commanders agreed to bend the knee to Stannis. The Night's Watch held its vote for a new Lord Commander and, thanks to some negotiations carried out by Samwell Tarly, Jon Snow was elected Lord Commander, to the utter fury of Thorne and Slynt. Stannis offered to legitimise Jon and make him Lord of Winterfell, but Jon refused.

In the far east, Daenerys Targaryen was returning to Pentos from Qarth on a ship arranged by Magister Illyrio. However, Ser Jorah Mormont convinced her to sail into Slaver's Bay and try to buy an army of Unsullied, the famous warrior-eunuchs of Astapor. Sickened by the misery of the slave trade she saw, Daenerys unleashed her dragons to kill the slave-masters of the city and freed all of the slaves. Aware that two other great slave cities lie on the coast, she took her followers to Yunkai and forced them to free their slaves as well, though the city's rulers remained in command. The rulers of Meereen, the largest and greatest of the slave cities, did not prove so cooperative. She discovered that Whitebeard was really Ser Barristan Selmy and that Ser Jorah had been sending intelligence back to King's Landing as late as Qarth. To make amends, they led a suicidal mission into Meereen via the sewers and were able to open the gates and allow her army to enter the city. Daenerys took control of Meereen, but learned that the council of rulers she'd left in Astapor had been overthrown by a tyrant, Cleon the Great, who had vowed to rule in her name. Aware that the same thing could happen to Meereen, she decided against pressing on immediately to Westeros. Instead she would stay and rule, and learn how to become a queen.

In King's Landing, Jaime and Varys released Tyrion from his prison cell and agreed to help him escape. However, on the way through a secret passage Tyrion discovered the tunnel connected to his father's quarters in the Tower of the Hand. There, he discovered that his father had been sleeping with a whore Tyrion himself had fallen in love with, Shae. He killed them both in a fury before leaving the city on a ship arranged by Varys.

At the Eyrie, Sansa found a new home, but also a new threat, as her aunt was insanely jealous of her even talking to Littlefinger. Sansa learned in one of her aunt's diatribes that Lysa had poisoned Jon Arryn and blamed it on the Lannisters at Littlefinger's urging. Littlefinger, aware that Lysa is going insane, pushes her thousands of feet to her death and blames it on the court singer, Marillion.

Finally, the Brotherhood Without Banners found Catelyn Stark's body in the Trident, some miles downriver from the Twins. They pulled her ashore and Beric was able to restore her to life, but only at the cost of his own existence. Catelyn, now dubbed 'Lady Stoneheart' by the Brotherhood, commanded them to seek out and murder all of those who had a hand in the Red Wedding.

The unused UK cover art for Crows, art by Jim Burns.

A Feast for Crows
In Oldtown Pate, a novice at the Citadel, was killed by an assailant who resembled Jaqen H'Ghar. Jaqen, apologetic about the need to kill him, took on Pate's face and infiltrated the Citadel for purposes unknown.

In King's Landing the funeral of Tywin Lannister was held. Cersei, the Queen Regent, asked her uncle Kevan to serve as King's Hand and Kevan agreed, but only if she would return to Casterly Rock and leave him to govern the realm. She angrily rejected his insinuation that she was an incompetent ruler. She named the biddable Harys Swyft as Hand and installed the small council with her own minions: Gyles Rosby as master of coin, the sellsail Aurane Waters as master of ships and the sinister Maester Qyburn as master of whisperers, since Varys had vanished. She also had the Tower of the Hand burned down. Qyburn had been trying to keep Gregor Clegane alive and requested Cersei's permission to carry out certain experiments on him he thought might be useful. She agreed.

The current UK edition, cover art by Larry Rostant.

At the Wall, Samwell Tarly was told by Jon that he must travel to Oldtown and become a maester at the Citadel, with a special focus on finding out as much as possible about the Others from the library there. Gilly and Maester Aemon would go with him, as would Mance Rayder's baby son, swapped with Gilly's newborn son, to protect them from Melisandre's fires. They took ship from Eastwatch and travelled to the Free City of Braavos. However, Aemon fell ill and they were stuck in the city for weeks waiting for him to recover. One of their escorts, Dareon, abandoned the mission in favour of making money and getting drunk in the taverns of the city. Samwell found a ship from the Summer Isles whose captain called in at Qarth and saw Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons there. The captain agreed to take Samwell's party on to Oldtown. Aemon realised that Daenerys must be the true Prince Who Was Promised, with her dragons as her sword of flame, and resolved to travel to Meereen to offer her counsel. Instead, he died at sea. Gilly comforted Sam and they become lovers.

In Braavos, Arya found refuge at the House of Black and White, the temple Jaqen served. She discovered that the House was dedicated to the Many-Faced God, the god of death, and served by the Faceless Men, the elite and infamous order of assassins. The priests agreed to train her in their ways, but insisted she must leave the identity of Arya Stark behind. She tried to do so, becoming Cat of the Canals, but upon finding Dareon, a deserter from the Night's Watch, her Stark heritage reasserted itself and she executed him for desertion and oathbreaking. The priests, annoyed by her lapse, took her sight away in punishment.

The unused US cover art for Crows, by Stephen Youll.

In the Riverlands, Brienne searched for Arya and Sansa to no avail. She found some assistance from Pod, Tyrion's former squire, and Ser Hyle Hunt. They found several surviving members of the Brave Companions and killed them all. At a septry in the mouth in the Trident, she learned from a holy brother that Arya Stark was seen taking ship for places unknown, and that 'the Hound' had been found nearby and had died. However, another warrior had taken on the name of the Hound, sacked a nearby town and was causing havoc in the area. Brienne found and killed him, but in turn she and her friends were captured by the Brotherhood Without Banners and taken before Lady Stoneheart, the resurrected Catelyn. Catelyn determined that Brienn had betrayed her mission by letting Jaime go free without finding her daughters first, and threatened to hang Brienne if she didn't kill Jaime. When Brienne refused, Catelyn had her hanged, but as she did so, Brienne screamed out a word.

Paxter Redwyne's fleet from the Arbor, loyal to Lord Mace Tyrell, put Dragonstone under siege whilst Mace's army did the same to Storm's End. Cersei had the High Septon, a vain man whom Tyrion had installed, assassinated, but was dismayed to find his replacement a religious martinet. However, Cersei then discovered that the new High Septon could be reasoned with and they reached a deal: the Faith of the Seven would forgive the crown its massive debt if in return Cersei would restore the warrior orders of the Faith Militant, which had been disbanded after a war lasting a dozen years against Kings Aenys, Maegor and Jaehaerys. To Pycelle's horror, Cersei agreed, and soon the Warrior's Sons and the Poor Fellows were armed once more.

At the Eyrie, the lords of the Vale confronted Littlefinger, angry with his position as Lord Protector of the Vale. One of the lords became angry and bared steel at the meeting in violation of custom, allowing Littlefinger to shame the lords of the Vale into agreeing to let him remain Lord Protector for one year. Sansa realised that Littlefinger set the whole thing up. Impressed, Littlefinger told her more of his scheme. Little Robert Arryn was sickly and weak. His heir was Harry Hardyng, a popular young knight and warrior. If Harry were to marry Sansa, that would give Sansa an army with which to retake Winterfell. With snow falling more thickly about the Eyrie, the court of the Vale removed itself to the more clement location of the Gates of the Moon, located at the base of the mountain.

The first part of the SubPress limited edition, art by Tom Canty.

Jaime Lannister rode to Riverrun with a number of men, including Ser Ilyn Payne and Ser Ronnet Connington, though he grows tired of the latter and sent him off to deliver Wylis Manderly, a former hostage now released since House Manderly has returned to the king's peace, to Maidenpool, from where he could take ship for White Harbour. At Riverrun Jaime forced Ser Brynden Tully to surrender the castle, but Brynden escaped by the river. The Freys took possession of the castle, their reward for the Red Wedding, and Edmure Tully was sent back to Casterly Rock as a captive. Jaime then saw snow falling across the Riverlands and realised, with horror for there was no time to gather another harvest, winter had arrived.

The ironborn launched a fresh campaign, invading and capturing all of the Shield Isles and raiding heavily along the coast of the Reach. King Euron summoned his brother Victarion and told him he was sending Victarion and the Iron Fleet to Slaver's Bay. There they would seize Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons using the magic horn, and bring her back to Westeros to be Euron's wife, after which he would use the dragons to conquer the entire continent. Victarion agreed, but secretly planned to betray Euron by taking Daenerys for himself. The Iron Fleet set out for Meereen.

At King's Landing, word of the ironborn attacks reached Margaery Tyrell, who angrily demanded that Cersei send help. Cersei had become increasingly tired of the Tyrells and their demands and refused to break the siege of Dragonstone. Ser Loras volunteered to take the castle. If he succeeded quickly, Cersei agreed that Paxter Redwyne's fleet could return to the west coast and fight the ironborn. Ser Loras set out and Dragonstone indeed fell, but at the cost of Ser Loras being severely wounded. Neverthless, Redwyne's fleet set out for home, as agreed.

The second part of the SubPress limited edition, art by Tom Canty.

Deciding that Margaery was an unsuitable wife for her son, Cersei set out to discredit Margaery by insinuating that she was not a virgin to the newly-powerful High Septon. The High Septon had Margaery imprisoned and examined, and it was confirmed she was indeed not a virgin (though Cersei herself noted that such a thing is not uncommon amongst young noblewomen who spend a lot of time riding horses). Cersei's plan spectacularly backfired when the High Septon puts the false accusers of Margaery to torture and discovered the plot, and so he had Cersei imprisoned as well. Mace Tyrell lifted the siege of Storm's End and raced back to the city. Cersei sent for Jaime, but he refused to return to the capital. Qyburn offered another choice: his experiments on Gregor had been completed (despite his head being sent back to Dorne to appease Prince Doran for Oberyn's death) and now a mighty champion stood ready to defend the queen in a trial by battle. However, Cersei knew that only knights of the Kingsguard could defend the royal family, and the Kingsguard were all still alive. During the chaos, Aurane Waters absconded with the newly-rebuilt Royal Fleet.

In Dorne, Princess Myrcella Baratheon, betrothed to Prince Trystane, fell into a conspiracy set in motion by Princess Arianne Martell, heir to the throne of Dorne. To avenge themselves upon the Lannisters, Arianne planned to declare Myrcella Queen of the Seven Kingdoms (by Dornish law, Myrcella would have a superior claim to the throne to Tommen), with Dorne - as yet untouched by the war - backing her. She had even convinced Myrcelle's bodyguard, Ser Arys Oakheart, a knight of the Kingsguard, to back the plan. However, the plan was discovered by Prince Doran. There was a struggle and Myrcella was injured by one of Arianne's allies, Ser Gerold Dayne, the Darkstar, whilst Ser Arys was killed by Doran's captain of the guard, Areo Hotah.

Taken back to Sunspear as a prisoner, Arianne was confronted by her father. He told her that the Martells were playing a long game designed to get revenge for the deaths of Elia and Oberyn. Arianne had been secretly promised in marriage to Viserys Targaryen (though he had not been told of the plan) since she was young. At the right time, Viserys would have crossed to Dorne with an army from the eastern continent and they would have made a play for the Iron Throne. However, Viserys' death changed all of that. As a result Arianne's brother Quentyn was now on his way to Meereen to win Daenerys' hand in marriage and bring her - and her soldiers and her dragons - back to Dorne to fulfil the plan and help them destroy the Lannisters once and for all.

Samwell and Gilly finally reached Oldtown, though the ironborn campaign had continued, with them raiding Oldtown and conquering a stretch of the Arbor as well. Samwell arrived at the Citadel and met Archmaester Marwyn, seen as a maverick by the other maesters for his interest is in the 'higher mysteries' or magic. Marwyn revealed that in the last few months the old Valyrian candles, used to help them communicate across vast distances, had suddenly started working again. When Samwell told him about Daenerys, Aemon and the Prince Who Was Promised, Marwyn realised that these events were all connected. He took ship for Meereen, telling Samwell to learn as fast and as hard as possible and get back to the Wall, where he would be needed. He commended Samwell to the care of two young students: Alleras (who is almost certainly Sarella, one of Oberyn Martell's bastard daughters, in the Citadel for purposes unknown)...and a boy named Pate.


SourcesThe novels.
The 'Dunk and Egg' prequel novellas.
The RPGs published by Guardians of Order and Green Ronin.
Information directly from George R.R. Martin collected at the So Spake Martin site on Westeros.

A Song of Ice and Fire So Far Part 3: Thrones and Kings

This third part of the re-read takes us into the novels themselves. I have taken the liberty here of re-ordering events chronologically, to give a little more clarity to events.

Note, if you are watching the TV series alone this article contains spoilers of such an apocalyptic magnitude they will cause your eyes to melt and dribble out of your sockets. Do not read on unless you want the entire second season spoiled for you a year before it's on screen.



A Game of Thrones
In the 298th year after Aegon's Landing, the fourteenth year of King Robert Baratheon's rule, the Seven Kingdoms once again began slipping into chaos and war.

The original 1996 US hardcover of A Game of Thrones, which is now worth quite a bit. Art by Tom Hallman.

Robert's younger brother Stannis, Lord of Dragonstone, served on the king's small council as master of ships and the commander of the royal fleet. Stannis developed a suspicion that his brother's three children - Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen - were not Robert's offspring at all, but possibly the product of a liaison between Queen Cersei Lannister and her own twin brother, Jaime, the Kingslayer. Stannis was aware that if he went to Robert with this information, it would appear to be self-serving: if Robert's children were not his, then Stannis became the heir to the Iron Throne. Stannis enlisted the aid of Lord Jon Arryn, the Hand of the King, in proving the truth of the matter and they undertook an investigation. Jon visited several of Robert's bastards and noted their close physical resemblance to their father. He also investigated the histories and lineages of the Seven Kingdoms, and discovered that in every match between Lannister and Baratheon (and there had been a few over the centuries), the Baratheon features won out over the Lannisters. Yet Robert's children were fair-haired.

Convinced that the Lannisters had betrayed the king, Stannis returned to Dragonstone and began gathering his supporters and bannermen. Jon Arryn remained in King's Landing, gathering enough evidence to convince even Robert, but Stannis and Jon made a surreptitious deal to foster Jon's young son Robert Arryn on Dragonstone with Stannis, a plan that Jon's wife Lysa (who was notoriously over-protective of her son) objected to most strenuously. During this period Jon Arryn fell ill and died, apparently of a fever, but Stannis was sure it was an assassination arranged by the Lannisters. Lysa apparently felt the same way, sending a letter to her sister Catelyn, the wife of Lord Eddard Stark, warning her of this.

The original UK cover of A Game of Thrones, art by Jim Burns.

In the meantime, King Robert, oblivious to these machinations, travelled to Winterfell with his entourage to ask Eddard to take up the role of Hand of the King to replace Jon Arryn. Eddard agreed as a means of investigating the situation in King's Landing and seeing if there was any danger to the king. He also accepted Robert's proposal that they marry Robert's son Joffrey to Eddard's daughter Sansa. However, Eddard's son Bran, who liked to climb, discovered Jaime and Cersei in bed and was discovered. Jaime threw him from the tower, but Bran survived, albeit with no memory of the incident.

Eddard set out south with the king's part and his daughters, Sansa and Arya. He left his eldest son and heir Robb to rule Winterfell in his stead, along with his younger sons Bran and Rickon. Eddard's bastard son, Jon Snow, was not welcome at Winterfell in his absence, so Jon elected to join Eddard's brother Benjen on the Wall, taking the black and joining the Night's Watch. All of the Stark children had pet direwolves, found as pups after Eddard had beheaded a deserter from the Watch (babbling nonsense about seeing the Others beyond the Wall), and these accompanied them to their respective destinations.

The original mass-market US paperback of Thrones. Art by Stephen Youll.

Meanwhile, in the Free City of Pentos, the wealthy merchant lord Illyrio Mopatis and the exiled Beggar King, Viserys Targaryen, conspired to return the Targaryens to the Iron Throne. They arranged for Viserys' younger sister Daenerys to marry Khal Drogo, the warlord or khal of a Dothraki khalasar, a horde of forty thousand warriors. In return, Drogo would support Viserys' play for the Iron Throne. But before that could be done, Dothraki custom demanded that Drogo return to Vaes Dothrak with his new bride and present her to the old crones of the city for their blessing. This involved a long journey eastwards through the Free Cities, the Forest of Qohor and the vast grass-steppes of the Dothraki sea. Viserys and Daenerys were joined on this journey by Ser Jorah Mormont, an exiled knight of Westeros who had sworn loyalty to Viserys. Viserys chafed at the slow pace of the journey, the fact that he was heading in the wrong direction, and most of all at his sister's growing pride and independence in her new position of power and authority. Eventually, Viserys' arrogance proved too much and ended with Khal Drogo upending a pot of molten gold over his head, killing him.

Eddard and the royal party made their way slowly south, delayed by the queen's ridiculously huge and slow wheel-carriage. At Castle Darry, there was an altercation between Arya and Joffrey when he found her practicing at swordplay with a butcher's son, Myach. The incident ended with Joffrey's hand being bitten by Arya's direwolf, Nymeria, and his sword being thrown in the river. Arya drove Nymeria off, knowing that she'd be punished, so the queen suggested that Sansa's direwolf, Lady, be killed instead, to Sansa's fury. Sandor Clegane, Joffrey's sworn sword and bodyguard, killed Mycah as well, earning Arya's enmity.

Back in Winterfell, an assassin armed with an elaborate dagger tried to kill the crippled Bran, and was only stopped by the intervention of Catelyn and Bran's direwolf, Summer. Examining the dagger, Catelyn and her advisors realised that it was an ornate and unique weapon. By tracking down its owner, they may get a clue to the identity of the people who wanted Bran dead. Catelyn set out for King's Landing by sea to bring Eddard this news.

The royal party pressed on to King's Landing, where Eddard found a den of vipers waiting for him. Between the king's spymaster, the eunuch Varys, and his master of coin, Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish, and their intrigues, Eddard did not know who to trust. This indecision was solved when Catelyn, who had beaten him to the city, put her trust in Littlefinger, an old childhood friend. Littlefinger confirmed that the dagger belonged to Tyrion Lannister, the Imp, the deformed and misshapen younger brother of Cersei and Jaime. Tyrion had travelled to Winterfell with the rest of the royal party, but had elected to go north to see the Wall before returning to the capital.

At the Wall, Jon Snow found that the Night's Watch consisted mostly of criminals, rapists and thieves who had chosen the Wall over castration or having a hand cut off. A few good men were to be found, but for the most part it was a harsh, old institution whose glory days had long passed. Tyrion warned Jon Snow this would be the case, but he had not listened. Nevertheless, Tyrion's advice enabled Jon to make friends with some of the other recruits and make a good impression on Maester Aemon and Lord Commander Jeor Mormont, though it also earned him the enmity of the trainer of new recruits, Ser Alliser Thorne. Tyrion left to return to King's Landing, and soon after a new recruit, Samwell Tarly, arrived at the Wall. A fat, soft, southern boy from the Reach, Sam was easy prey for Thorne and his cruel jibes, but Jon helped him survive.

Meanwhile, Robert Baratheon had learned of Daenerys Targaryen's wedding and that she had subsequently become pregnant. He ordered that an assassin be sent to kill her, to Eddard's disgust. The assassin caught up with Daenerys in Vaes Dothrak and tried to poison her, but he was exposed by Ser Jorah Mormont (actually a spy for Varys, but one who had started to develop some loyalty towards Daenerys due to her courage). Due to this attempt on his wife and unborn son's lives, Khal Drogo flew into a rage and swore an oath to lead his khalasar to the Seven Kingdoms and conquer the realm for his son.

Elsewhere in the capital the king's youngest brother, Renly Baratheon, was intriguing against the Lannisters, whom he despised. Renly's plan was for Robert to put aside Cersei and marry the sister of his best friend (and lover) Ser Loras Tyrell. Lord Mace Tyrell had already agreed to back the scheme with his vast army should the Lannisters object.

Departing King's Landing, Catelyn was in the Crossroads Inn when Tyrion happened to arrive. Acting on instinct, Catelyn called upon several knights sworn to her father's bannermen, as well as some sellswords, to help her take Tyrion prisoner. She loudly announced that she was taking him north to Winterfell to await the king's justice, but instead took him east into the Vale of Arryn, to her sister Lysa's seat at the Eyrie. At the Eyrie Catelyn found her sister in the grip of paranoid fear that people meant to harm her son Robert. They put Tyrion on trial, but Tyrion claimed trial by battle to prove his innocence. One of the sellswords, Bronn, agreed to take Tyrion's part, and defeated Lysa's champion, Ser Vardis Egen. Lysa turned them both out, not expecting them to survive an unescorted journey through the foothills of the Mountains of the Moon, where hostile tribesmen roamed. However, Tyrion was able to convince the mountain clans that House Lannister could be a powerful ally and gained a strong escort back into the Riverlands.

Back in King's Landing, Eddard set out on the same trail as Jon Arryn and Stannis Baratheon, finding several of Robert's bastards and a dull book on the history and lineages of the great houses. News of Catelyn's arrest of Tyrion reached the city and Jaime Lannister had his guardsmen severely wound Eddard and kill several of his bodyguards before fleeing the city. Eddard's attempts to bring Jaime to justice were stymied by Robert, who demanded peace between the two houses. Robert then took off on a long boar hunt in the Kingswood, expecting the situation to be rectified by the time he returned. Instead, at Casterly Rock Lord Tywin called his banners, summoned a large army, and began moving towards the Riverlands, sending his ferocious knight, Ser Gregor Clegane, ahead to cause as much chaos as possible. When news of this reached Eddard, he commanded a young lord from the Dornish Marches, Beric Dondarrion, to take a strong force to arrest Gregor Clegane.

The current UK cover of Thrones, art by Larry Rostant.

Due to a chance remark by Sansa, Eddard realised that no previous Baratheon-Lannister pairing had produced blonde children. He confronted Cersei, who confirmed his suspicions: the three children were all Jaime's. Eddard gave her a chance to flee before Robert returned, but Cersei did not take him up on the offer. When Robert did return, it was on his back: his squire, Lancel Lannister, he given him too much wine and he'd been gored by the boar. As he lay dying, Robert named Eddard as Lord Protector of the Realm, to rule until his heir came of age. Robert's youngest brother, Renly, urged Eddard to strike and imprison Cersei and her children before it was too late, but Eddard refused. Renly fled the city, his own plan for Robert to marry Margaery Tyrell in tatters and his own personal safety in question.

Robert passed away, and immediately Cersei put Joffrey on the Iron Throne. Eddard presented his warrant to serve as Lord Protector, but Cersei tore it up. Eddard, having used to Littlefinger to buy the loyalty of the City Watch's commander, Janos Slynt, moved to have Cersei and Joffrey arrested, but Littlefinger and Slynt betrayed him. The remaining Stark guards were killed and Eddard was taken into custody. Sansa was likewise held, but Arya managed to escape onto the streets of the city.

With Eddard a prisoner, Robb Stark called the banners of the North and led a signficiant army south. At Moat Cailin, he was joined by his mother, Catelyn. They debated strategy: Tywin Lannister had invaded the Riverlands in force, leaving half his army under Jaime to invest Riverrun and leading the rest to the Trident to stop Robb from advancing on King's Landing. After some discussion, Robb decided to also split his army in half. He ordered Lord Roose Bolton, a Northern lord of sinister repute, to lead his footmen to engage Tywin, whilst he would ride hard for Riverrun with his cavalry. This required getting across the Green Fork of the Trident. The only crossing was at the Twins, held by House Frey, bannermen to the Tullys but of dubious loyalty. Catelyn won the Freys to Robb's cause by promising his hand in marriage to one of Lord Walder Frey's offspring.

Tyrion Lannister descended from the mountains with his clan warriors and joined Tywin's host. Tywin placed Tyrion and his wildmen in the vanguard with Gregor Clegane, thinking that they would break and set up a trap for the Starks that Tywin's pikemen could exploit. As it stood, the wildemen held their line. During the engagement - the Battle of the Green Fork - Roose Bolton held his lines and his nerve and was able to retreat in good order once the Lannisters gained the upper hand. Tywin was initially pleased with the victory, but furious once he learned that he had been deceived.

In King's Landing, Eddard was aghast to hear that Robb was leading an army into battle. Varys, claiming to serve the realm and to serve peace, asked Eddard to falsely confess to treason. In return for this he would be allowed to take the black and join the Night's Watch, whilst Sansa would be left unharmed. Eddard reluctantly agreed and, on the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor, made his false confession. Joffrey, wanting to give the crowd a show, betrayed the agreement and ordered that Eddard be beheaded.

On the Wall, Jon Snow saved the life of Lord Commander Mormont from a wight, a dead ranger that had risen in the night. Mormont, hearing reports of the wildlings gathering in vast numbers in the far north, decided that he would not wait meekly for the winter to come. Instead, he planned to lead the Night's Watch in force against the Others, the wildlings and whatever else was out there. Jon, despite being tempted to join Robb's war, agreed to serve this cause.

The Stark army won a great double-pronged victory over the Lannisters. At the Whispering Wood, they lured Jaime Lannister and a small detachment of his army into a trap, and Jaime was captured. Then the Stark army, aided by forces of the Riverlands, smashed the Lannister siege of Riverrun. A small Lannister force retreated to the border with the Westerlands in good order, but the damage was done. Riverrun opened its gates and the forces loyal to Lord Hoster Tully joined forces with the Starks. When word of Eddard's death reached them, along with the news that Renly had been crowned King of the Seven Kingdoms in Highgarden, they debated what to do next, about whether to declare for Renly or wait to see what Stannis, Robert's true heir would do. In the end, they decided against being ruled from the south any further. Both the northern and river lords declared Robb Stark the King in the North, and swore their fealty to him.

Khal Drogo's army moved south-east to Lhazar, the land of the lamb-men, where Drogo planned to take many slaves to sell in Slaver's Bay to fund the crossing to Westeros. However, Drogo took a wound in battle which festered. Daenerys asked a local healer, Mirri Maz Duur, to aid Drogo in return for sparing her life. Duur agreed...but her ministrations left Drogo a vegetable, his khalasar scattered in civil conflict and Daenerys childless, her son stillborn. Furious, Daenerys smothered Drogo, tied Duur to his funeral pyre, and burned them both. On a whim Daenerys put three old dragon eggs - gifts from Illyrio in Pentos - on the pyre, and stepped into the flames herself. Once the fire and ashes cleared, Daenerys was revealed unharmed...along with three dragon hatchlings, the first seen anywhere in the world for a century and a half.

The Meisha Merlin limited edition of A Clash of Kings, art by the godlike John Howe.

A Clash of Kings
On the island of Dragonstone, Stannis Baratheon, the younger brother of the late King Robert and the older brother of Lord Renly, claimed the Iron Throne of Westeros, sending a letter to every lord in the Seven Kingdoms claiming that Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen were bastards born of incest and treachery. He called his banners and his fleet, but he was stymied by the tactical situation: he controlled the sea lanes around the capital but his actual army was tiny, only a few thousand, not enough to assault King's Landing. In addition Stannis had the problem of dealing with his younger brother in Highgarden, who had won all of the Reach and the Stormlands to his cause, giving him an army almost as large as the Lannisters and Starks combined. Stannis had a new advisor, a red priest of R'hllor named Melisandre, who could see certain things in her flames. At her suggestion, Stannis moved his fleet and army south to besiege his own ancestral castle at Storm's End, now loyal to Renly.

Meanwhile, Tyrion arrived in King's Landing and set to putting things right. He removed Slynt, who had been made Lord of Harrenhal, and sent him to the Wall, instead placing the City Watch under the command of a steadier officer. Tyrion also won the assistance of Varys, keeping Littlefinger wisely at arm's length. With the city vulnerable to Renly's army, which had begun slowly marching on the capital, Tyrion set about organising a defence. He had a chain built to seal off the mouth of the Blackwater Rush and fortified the city in earnest. He also began shoring up political alliances, and in a bold move won the allegiance of Dorne by promising the hand of Princess Myrcella to Prince Trystane Martell.

The original UK cover of A Clash of Kings, art by Jim Burns.

On the battlefront, Tywin Lannister had retreated to Harrenhal, leaving his army centrally placed to move against either Robb or Renly, as the situation demanded. Robb wanted Tywin to come west, allowing Renly to attack King's Landing unimpeded, so Robb led his army into the Westerlands, assaulting a whole string of castles loyal to the Lannisters. With the Stark army doing tremendous damage to the homeland of the Lannisters and their vassals, Tywin was forced to appease his lords by leading his army in pursuit. Unfortunately, Robb had not informed his uncle Edmure, who was holding Riverrun, of the plan. Edmure led a stalwart defence of the fords over the Red Fork that the Lannisters needed to cross to get home, and repulsed the attack.

Arya Stark had managed to escape from King's Landing with a band of Night's Watch recruits gathered by Yoren, but Yoren was killed in an altercation on the shores of Gods Eye. Arya and her cohorts were escorted to Harrenhal and forced to serve the Lannisters as servants. Once Tywin had departed, Roose Bolton led the rest of the Stark host down and occupied the castle. Arya pondered revealing her true identity, but Roose's odd manner and sinister reputation convined her to keep her head down. Another one of the ex-recuits, a Lorathi named Jaqen H'Ghar, turned out to be a Faceless Man, one of a sect of assassins who were capable of changing his appearance at will. H'Ghar helped Arya escape from Harrenhal, and she began making her way towards Riverrun.

The original US cover art for Kings. Art by Stephen Youll.

In the North, the lands had been left almost defenceless after Robb Stark had led his army south. Lord Balon Greyjoy took advantage of this, declaring himself King of the Iron Islands once again. Theon Greyjoy had returned to him as a messenger from Robb proposing an alliance, but Balon disdained such a notion. Instead, he commanded Theon, his daughter Asha and several loyal warriors to raid heavily along the coast of the North and then strike inland to seize Moat Cailin, Torrhen's Squre and Deepwood Motte. This was successful, but Theon modified the plan. He took another forces and managed to capture the under-defended castle of Winterfell itself. Foolishly, he tried to hang onto his prize despite it being militarily untenable as the other lords gathered more troops to repulse him. The situation worsened when Rickon and Bran Stark attempted to escape the castle and Theon executed them...though in reality he had let them go and killed two other children instead. The other Northern lords were suddenly attacked by the forces of House Bolton, led by Roose's bastard son Ramsay. Theon opened the gates in gratitude, only for Ramsay to take him prisoner and order the castle burned.

In the south, Renly's army abruptly veered off eastwards to meet the threat of Stannis. Renly and Stannis met under a flag of truce, adjudicated by Catelyn Stark, who had travelled south to try to arrange an alliance between Robb and the Baratheons. The talks came to nothing, and it looked like Renly was poised for a famous victory...until, at Melisandre's command, the very shadows in Renly's tent came alive and killed him. Catelyn and one of Renly's 'Rainbow Guard', a female warrior named Brienne of Tarth, were the only ones present when Renly died, so they were blamed for the murder. They fled, and managed to escape all the way back to Riverrun.

Upon Renly's death, the storm lords went over to Stannis, who almost immediately began marching on the capital, but in King's Landing Tyrion saw an opportunity. Renly had had to leave most of the Reach lords behind in his determination to get to Storm's End. Tyrion sent Littlefinger to treat with Lord Mace Tyrell, who was no friend to Stannis (during Robert's Rebellion, Mace had besieged Stannis in Storm's End for a year). Littlefinger suggested that Joffrey could marry Margaery Tyrell in Renly's stead, and Mace Tyrell agreed. When word of this reached Tywin, he marched his army south to the headwaters of the Blackwater Rush and used boats to transport his army down to the capital.

The current UK cover of Kings, art by Larry Rostant.

This resulted in the Battle of the Blackwater. Stannis' fleet assaulted the city from the bay and river, whilst his army began making plans to cross the river. Tyrion had placed wildfire barrels under the waterline, and once Stannis' fleet was fully committed Tyrion released the wildfire and lifted the chain. The resulted in the near-annihilation of Stannis' fleet as it was trapped in the river. Unfortunately, what looked like a significant victory came close to turning to defeat when Stannis' army started using the resulting wreckage as a bridge to cross the river. Tyrion himself led a sortie to repulse the attack, but was badly injured in the process. Still, Tyrion's actions had given Mace Tyrell and Tywin Lannister enough time to gather their forces and hit Stannis' army in the flank. Though Stannis and some troops managed to escape by sea, the bulk of his army was defeated and surrendered.

Meanwhile, Daenerys Targaryen, her newly-hatched dragons and the few remnants of the Drogo's khalasar who had remained behind, journeyed south and east across the forbidding Red Waste, eventually coming out of the far side near the great city of Qarth, which guarded the straits into the Jade Sea. The Qartheen feted Daenerys and treated her well, but the city's merchant lords were greedy for her dragons. Daenerys decided to seek the advice of the Warlocks of Qarth at the House of the Undying, and was left battered by a bemusing series of visions (including of a man with a wolf's head, and a vision of her brother Rhaegar and his wife Elia cooing over their son Aegon and Rhaegar saying, "The dragon has three heads," and "His is the song of ice and fire,"). Her dragons burned the House of the Undying down. Aware that she had outstayed her welcome in the city, Daenerys was assisted by the timely arrival of two warriors sent by Illyrio to escort her home: a eunuch warrior named Strong Belwas, and an old warrior of Westeros, Ser Arstan Whitebeard (who is really Ser Barristan Selmy, former Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, forcibly retired on Cersei's orders). They took ship for Pentos.

Beyond the Wall, the forces of the Night's Watch advanced to the Fist of the First Men, an old hill fort abandoned thousands of years ago. From there, Mormont sent a scouting force led by Qhorin Halfhand and also including Jon Snow to reconnitor the Skirling Pass. There they were cornered by a wildling raiding party. Qhorin sacrificed his life, letting Jon kill him so Jon could pose as a turncloak and learn the wildlings' true plans. The wildlings bought the deception (mainly due to a young woman, Ygritte, who had taken a shine to Snow) and decided to bring Jon Snow before the King-beyond-the-Wall, Mance Rayder, to prove his worth.

That covers the first two books in the series. The next one will cover Storm and Crows and hopefully bring us up to date.

The Song of Ice and Fire So Far: Part 2 - The Dragon Kings

This article continues my recap of the events of A Song of Ice and Fire and its backstory before the publication of the forthcoming fifth volume, A Dance with Dragons, on 12 July.

As with the first part, this part will mostly be concerned with the backstory of the series. However, there are some backplot revelations here that are not made until later books in the series. As a result, if you watching the TV series Game of Thrones and the TV series alone, beware that this article will contain minor spoilers for the series.

Rhaenys, Aegon and Visenya Targaryen with their Valyrian steel swords, Blackfyre and Dark Sister.

The ConquestAegon Targaryen and his sister-wives Visenya and Rhaenys, riding the great dragons Balerion, Vhagar and Meraxes respectively, led a small contingent of retainers and troops to land at the mouth of the Blackwater Rush. They built a modest wooden redoubt atop the tallest hill overlooking the river, and made their plans. Seven kingdoms existed in Westeros, and Aegon wanted to conquer them all.

First, he took up arms against King Harren Hoare, Harren the Black, who ruled both the Iron Islands and the Riverlands from his keep at Harrenhal. Harrenhal was vast and impregnable to regular assault...but not to dragons. Aegon roasted Harren alive in Kingspyre Tower.

With Harren dead, the river lords, led by Edmyn Tully of Riverrun, raised their banners in rebellion and drove their ironborn overseers from their lands. Aegon hounded them all the way back to the Iron Islands, where he demanded their fealty. The ironborn elected Lord Vickon Greyjoy of Pyke to lead them, and Greyjoy and Tully were among the first to swear their fealty to Aegon. For Tully's service, Aegon made them overlords of the Riverlands.

In the east, Orys Baratheon, Aegon's alleged bastard half-brother, led an army against Storm's End. Argilac the Arrogant, the Storm King, soon proved the truth of his name. Rather than take shelter behind the walls of his fortress, he took the field, confident of victory. Orys destroyed his army, slew Argilac and captured Storm's End. He also took Argilac's daughter, his house motto and his lands as his own. For Orys' remarkable achievement, Aegon named him the founder of House Baratheon and legitimised him.

Alarmed at the Targaryens' blitzkrieg-like successes, King Loren Lannister of the Westerlands and King Mern IX Gardener made an alliance and assembled their armies to face the invader. They brought some 55,000 troops, including 5,000 mounted knights, to the battlefield, against Aegon's 10,000 or so soldiers, most of them untested levies from the lands he'd just conquered. The overwhelming superiority of numbers initially succeeded and the Targaryen army began to rout, so Aegon unleashed all three dragons at once. More than four thousand men were burned alive, including King Mern, the last of his line, before they surrendered. King Loren bent the knee and was allowed to remain Lord of Casterly Rock. With Mern dead, Aegon accepted the surrender of Harlen Tyrell, Mern's steward, and appointed him overlord of the Reach. This infuriated House Florent, who had a superior blood-claim to the Gardener line, but Aegon dismissed this.

With the Targaryen armies moving south towards Oldtown, the largest city on the continent, Lord Hightower turned to religion to advise him on what to do. The High Septon of the Faith of the Seven prayed for seven days and nights in the Starry Sept before delivering his answer: Aegon's actions were approved by the gods. Oldtown threw open its gates and Lord Hightower submitted to Aegon's authority. Aegon accepted his fealty and the blessing of the Seven, forever renouncing the old Valyrian gods his dragons were named for.

With Aegon's endeavour blessed by the faith, and with his forces apparently invulnerable when backed by dragons, most of the remaining resistance to Aegon's invasion melted away. The King of the Vale accepted Aegon's rule, and King Torrhen Stark knelt before Aegon on the Trident and sweared fealty to him. The only hold-out was Dorne. Aegon took his army through the Red Mountains, but the Dornish, having learned of the Field of Fire, refused to give battle. Instead, they made hit-and-run attacks on Aegon's army, burning their supplies and melting away before the dragons could be brought to bear. A thousand pinpricks did what a single pitched battle could not, and Aegon withdrew from Dorne, agreeing to respect their independence.

Aegon announced the founding of a new castle, the Red Keep, and a new capital city, King's Landing, on the site where he landed on the shores of Westeros, and retired to a relatively peaceful rule. He melted the swords of those who had opposed him into a throne, the Iron Throne, as a reminder of their submission to the Targaryens.

The Faith Militant UprisingAegon I Targaryen ruled well for more than thirty years. Upon his death, his son Aenys ascended the Iron Throne, but the Faith of the Seven objected. Aenys and his half-brother Maegor, the sons of Aegon the Conqueror, were born of incest, which is sinful in the eyes of the Seven. When Aenys took the throne anyway, the Faith ordered the people to rise up, led by their warrior-orders, the Poor Fellows and Warrior's Sons, also known as the Faith Militant.

The Faith Militant's uprising was bloody and long, lasting for eleven years. King Aenys was incapable of handling the crisis, so made his half-brother Maegor Hand of the King to deal with it. Maegor's response was bloody repression, crushing every gathering and every hint of insurrection. The Faith Militant responded in kind, turning the situation into a bloodbath. Aenys himself soon died, and Maegor took the crown, becoming known as Maegor the Cruel for his acts. Finally, the Iron Throne itself apparently killed Maegor (according to legend, though historians are highly sceptical). Aenys' son Jaehaerys took the throne and immediately offered peace and a full pardon in return for the Faith Militant disbanding. Wearied by war and slaughter, the Faith agreed and Jaehaerys became known as the Conciliator for his act.

The Old King
Jaehaerys I Targaryen was one of the finest kings to sit the Iron Throne. He ruled for over fifty years and brought many improvements to the Seven Kingdoms. He banned the practice of first night, where a king or lord could demand the first night of sexual favours from a newly-wed woman, which was extremely unpopular with the common folk. He also built the great roads of Westeros, including the Kingsroad that linked King's Landing with Castle Black. Jaehaerys' sister-wife Alysanne flew all the way to the Wall on her dragon, Silverwing, and became a friend of the Night's Watch, funding the construction of a new castle to replace the decrepit Nightfort. For his Hand, Jaehaerys chose Septon Barth, a smith's son, whose decision were likewise enlightened and wise.

The Dance of Dragons
Jaehaerys lived so long that he outlived his own son. Upon his death, the Iron Throne passed to his grandson, Viserys. Viserys I Targaryen proved to be a good ruler, but also indulgent and politically naive. His first marriage was to an Arryn of the Vale and they had three children, but only one, Princess Rhaenyra, survived to adulthood. For many years Viserys groomed Rhaenyra to rule as the first ruling Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, taking her to small council meetings and seeking her advice. Later in life, Viserys married again, to a Hightower of Oldtown, and had four more children, including three sons, but Rhaenyra remained his heir by proclamation and in his will.

Despite Viserys' very well-known intentions, upon his death the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Criston Cole, took the crown from his head and placed it on the brow of his eldest son, naming him Aegon II Targaryen. Aegon II claimed the Iron Throne, disputing Rhaenyra's own claim. The result was a bloody civil war, the Dance of Dragons. The realm was split in half, with even the Kingsguard choosing sides. Targaryen fought Targaryen and dragon fought dragon, with most of the Targaryen dragons being killed in the war.

Aegon II eventually gained the upper hand when his dragon consumed Rhaenyra whole, but the war continued in the name of Rhaenyra's young son, Aegon III. When Aegon II died, the war ended as well, for he had no more heirs (both of his brothers presumably perishing in the war as well). Aegon III, the Dragonbane, was scarred by the memory of his mother's death, and during his reign he confined the remaining dragons to the Dragonpit, the great hall for them built in King's Landing. During his reign the last of the dragons, a stunted green thing, died and her eggs did not hatch.

King Daeron I, the Young Dragon.

The Young Dragon and the Septon King
Upon Aegon III's death, his son Daeron I inherited the throne. Daeron was a great knight, skilled in battle and a noted strategist and tactician. Daeron had long felt that the continued independence of Dorne represented unfinished business for the Targaryens, and upon his ascension he vowed to rectify his ancestor's mistake. He assembled a large army and led it through the Red Mountains. The Dornish armies assembled to contest the passage, both through field battles (now viable that the Targaryen dragons were gone) and their traditional guerrilla attacks, but Daeron was prepared for these tactics. Dorne fell and Aegon accepted the Submission of Sunspear. Flushed from victory, he placed Lord Tyrell of the Reach in command of Dorne and returned to King's Landing.

This proved to be an unwise choice, as the Reach and Dorne had been mortal enemies for a thousand years. Tyrell was assassinated less than a fortnight into the job and the Dornish threw off the Targaryen yoke. Daeron I rushed back to re-conquer Dorne, but was killed in the fighting. His cousin Aemon the Dragonknight, one of the Kingsguard, was captured and thrown into a pit as well.

With Daeron dead with no issue, his brother Baelor became king. Pious and holy, Baelor walked the Boneway barefoot to make peace with Dorne. Aemon was released and Baelor made a marriage pact, marrying his second cousin Daeron (the later Daeron II) to Princess Myriah Martell of Dorne to symbolise the new peace.

Now king, Baelor spent his reign trying to bring peace, enlightenment and piety to the Seven Kingdoms. He was a pacifist, and refused the Faith's suggestions that he refound the Faith Militant orders. He also rejected carnal thoughts and the pleasure of the flesh. He divorced his sister-wife Daena and locked her and his other two sisters, Rhaena and Elaena, in the tower of the Red Keep so they would not tempt him with carnal thoughts. Despite this restriction, Daena became pregnant anyway and refused to name the father, for which stubbornness she came known as Daena the Defiant.

Baelor's worst excesses were mitigated by his uncle Viserys, the Hand of the King for both Daeron I and Baelor. Baelor took to praying over dragon eggs in the hope they would hatch, and kept fasting for longer and longer periods. Eventually, he starved himself to death. Viserys ascended the throne as Viserys II, but died a year later of age.

King Aegon IV, the Unworthy.

The Unworthy King
Viserys' eldest son ascended the Iron Throne as Aegon IV Targaryen, Aegon the Unworthy, accounted the worst king (or rather, the worst sane king) to ever rule Westeros. In his youth he was an effective warrior, but as he got older he became self-indulgent and ate and drank to excess. He was married to his sister-wife, Naerys, who was miserable and unhappy for most of their marriage. She gave Aegon a son, Daeron, who wed Myriah Martell, and asked to be released from their wedding vows, but Aegon refused. The only person Naerys took comfort from was her other brother, Aemon the Dragonknight, a great and stalwart warrior.

Aegon IV kept a whole harem of mistresses at court, with them rising and falling in his favour, setting in motion complex plots and intrigues between them, which Aegon found vastly entertaining. He gave many of them bastards, and eventually revealed that his cousin Daena's bastard son was his own son. Aegon was unimpressed with his legitimate son and heir, Daeron, who grew up favouring songs and stories over swords, but saw in his bastard son Daemon a great warrior. On his twelfth birthday, Aegon IV gave his bastard son one of the two Targaryen Valyrian steel blade, Blackfyre, a sign of tremendous respect and trust.

During Aegon IV's later life, rumours began to circulate that Queen Naerys had been having an affair with Aemon for most of their lives, and that the paternity of Daeron was therefore in question. One knight who openly made these claims, Ser Mormegil, was slain by Aemon in single combat for making them. But still the rumours persisted.

Aegon IV found one of his own Kingsguard, Ser Terrence Toyne, abed with one of his mistresses and slew him. In return, Toyne's two brothers attempted to kill Aegon IV. Aemon defended his brother and was killed, but Aegon IV escaped. The brothers Toyne fled, and one of their descendants continued to oppose the Targaryens by leading a band of outlaws in the Kingswood. Aegon IV himself fell ill and died a few years later, but on his deathbed he legitimised all of his bastard children of noble birth, plunging the realm into crisis.

The Blackfyre Rebellion
On Aegon's death, the so-called 'Great Bastards' became legitimate children of his, though behind his trueborn children in the line of succession. Daemon founded House Blackfyre, taking the name Daemon Blackfyre, and initially appeared to support his half-brother Daeron II, who took the Iron Throne. Of the other Great Bastards, Aegor Rivers, known as Bittersteel, was a close friend and confidant of Daemon's, whilst Brynden Rivers, known as Bloodraven for his distinctive birthmark and white skin, sided with Daeron II, becoming an advisor.

A decade into Daeron II's reign, Daemon Blackfyre raised the standard of rebellion, claiming that Daeron II was a bastard born of an affair between Aemon and Naerys. The trigger for this act appears to have been Daeron II's decision to marry his younger sister Daenerys to Prince Maron Martell of Dorne. Many in the Seven Kingdoms were unhappy with the 'Dornish flavour' the royal court had adopted (the influence of Queen Myriah) and saw this act as unacceptable. In addition, Daenerys and Daemon Blackfyre were known to be in love with one another. Daemon's standard was a black dragon on red, opposed to the red dragon on black of House Targaryen, and rapidly the realm was divided between those who supported red or black.

Daemon Blackfyre and one of his dead sons on the Redgrass Field.

The war culminated in the Battle of the Redgrass Field. Lord Hayford, the King's Hand, led Daeron II's main army from King's Landing to intercept Daemon's forces. A pitched battle erupt, which initially went Daemon's way. Hayford and a number of other prominent royalist commanders were killed. However, Daemon was delayed by an epic clash of swords with Ser Gwayne Corbray of the Kingsguard, wielding the Valyrian steel blade Lady Forlorn. The duel that followed is one of the most famous in the history of Westeros, the two knights fighting until Daemon eventually gained upper hand, dealing Gwayne Corbray a serious injury. The delay gave time for Bloodraven's archers, the Raven's Teeth, to ascend the Weeping Ridge and rain arrows down on Blackfyre's forces. Bloodraven himself, an elite archer, slew Daemon Blackfyre and two of his sons. Furious at this cowardly attack, Bittersteel led a charge at the Teeth and engaged Bloodraven in single combat, slicing out one of his eyes. By this time Daeron II's sons, Baelor and Maekar, had arrived on the field with Dornish reinforcements and outflanked the rebels, beginning the process of crushing them. Seeing the battle lost, Bittersteel fled the field and his army scattered.

Bittersteel took refuge in the Free Cities with many surviving knights and the remaining five sons of Daemon Blackfyre. Though now exiled, Bittersteel declared that their destiny lay in Westeros and they must never forget their cause. They founded the mercenary company known as the Golden Company and vowed to return home to Westeros one day.

After the Blackfyre Rebellion, Dorne entered the Seven Kingdoms formally and peacefully, swearing fealty to the Iron Throne in return for allowing to retain a greater degree of autonomy than the other kingdoms.

Dunk and Egg
Fifteen years after the Redgrass Field, the Seven Kingdoms was enjoying a time of peace and plenty. Good King Daeron sat the Iron Throne with his son Baelor the Breakspear as Hand, and the realm prospered. Lord Ashford held a great tourney to celebrate his daughter's wedding and Prince Baelor attended with his brother Maekar and their respective children. However, during the tourney one of Maekar's sons, Prince Aerion, took offence to a puppet show in which a dragon was killed. Taking this as a criticism of House Targaryen, Aerion punished the puppeteers. A hedge knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, intervened and laid hands on Aerion, injuring him. Duncan was almost killed, but Aerion's brother Aegon, who had made friends with Duncan, stopped it. A trial was held and Ser Duncan asked for trial by battle, noting Aerion's ineptitude at personal combat, but Aerion cleverly demanded instead a trial of seven where each side has to field seven champions instead.

The battle was fought and many legends were made that day, including two knights of House Fossoway taking opposite sides and one taking a red apple as his sigil and the other a green, resulting in a split that endures to this day. Prince Baelor joined Duncan's seven, to his brother Maekar's fury who took Aerion's side. Eventually, Duncan bested Aerion, forcing him to retract his complaints. Duncan was forgiven, but when Prince Baelor removed his helm, it was revealed that he was much more severely wounded than first fought. Baelor died and his body was burned.

Prince Maekar confronted Duncan and revealed he knew that his son Aerion was a lickspittle, coward and crazed fool, and he didn't want his younger son Aegon to turn out like him. Duncan suggested that Aegon needed to see the world and live amongst the smallfolk as his brother never did, so Maekar gave Aegon to Duncan as a squire. They travelled the Seven Kingdoms incognito for many years, becoming known as 'Dunk and Egg'. In the Reach they repaired a years-old dispute between the Houses Osprey and Webber, and in the Riverlands they helped avert the Second Blackfyre Rebellion by exposing a gathering of would-be traitors. They journeyed to Winterfell in the aftermath of an assault by the King-beyond-the-Wall, Raymun Redbeard, and saw the sands of Dorne. Aegon saw all the things his brothers and cousins and forefathers had not, and this stood him in good stead to become a great leader in his own right.

The Unlikely King
A few months after Prince Baelor's death, the Seven Kingdoms was struck by the Great Spring Sickness. Hundreds of thousands of people died, including King Daeron II and his wife and Baelor's surviving children. Daeron's second son, Aerys, took the Iron Throne and appointed Bloodraven as Hand of the King. Aerys was weak-willed and bookish, and during his reign Dagon Greyjoy rebelled and led the ironborn in raiding along the coast. Eventually it fell to Beron Stark and the Lannisters to combine their forces to crush the rebellion.

Aerys' reign was considered ill-omened, and Bloodraven was not loved by the people either. A great drought took place, and banditry on the roads increased. When Aerys finally died without issue, the crown passed over his younger brother Rhaegel, who was crazed and sickly, to his youngest brother, Maekar.

Maekar was a solid but unexceptional ruler, noted for his preference to spend as much time as possible in the Targaryen summer place of Summerhall rather than at King's Landing or the ancestral stronghold of Dragonstone. Eventually he died fighting an outlaw lord. There was a gathering of lords to debate the succession, since Maekar's two oldest sons (including Aerion) had died. They offered the crown to Maekar's third son, Aemon, a maester of the Citadel, but he refused it and joined the Night's Watch instead, agreeing to serve as maester at Castle Black on the Wall, a position he would go on to hold for seventy years. Finally, Aegon - Egg - took the crown as Aegon V Targaryen, the Unlikely King, for he was a fourth son of a fourth son.

Aegon V ruled wisely and well for near thirty years. The realm prospered under his rule. The roads were made safe again, and the 'cursed' Bloodraven was packed off to the Wall (though even there he would rise high, eventually becoming Lord Commander of the Night's Watch). Several further attempts by the Blackfyre Pretenders to claim the Iron Throne were defeated. Aegon shored up his support by marrying his daughter Rhaelle to Lord Baratheon of Storm's End, and made his old friend Duncan first a member of the Kingsguard and later its Lord Commander. He also named his firstborn son and heir for Duncan in violation of the custom for giving Targaryen children Valyrian names.

During the latter part of Aegon's reign, names famous now in Westeros were first heard. After a succession of short-lived Grand Maesters, the Citadel appointed the relatively young Pycelle to the position, a position he still holds more than forty years later. During Aegon's reign a young warrior named Barristan Selmy came to prominence, and was knighted.

Aegon's reign, so great in promise, ended in fire and tragedy. Aegon attempted to hatch the last of the Targaryen dragon eggs by creating an enormous fire at Summerhall. The fire got out of control, killing Prince Aegon, Lord Commander Duncan and Prince Duncan the Small. During the chaos of the fire, Aegon V's granddaughter Rhaella gave birth to her son, by her brother-husband Prince Aerys. The son's name was Rhaegar.

The War of the Ninepenny Kings
After Aegon's death, his son Jaehaerys II took the throne, but Jaehaerys was sickly and weak. Despite this, when he heard that the Blackfyre Pretenders were making one last play for the Iron Throne, he was able to respond decisively.

Maelys Blackfyre, commander of the Golden Company, had made common cause and alliance with eight other exiled or outcast rulers of the Free Cities. They agreed to pool their armies and help one another achieve what they could not alone. In the Free Cities they became known as the Band of Nine, but in Westeros were called the Ninepenny Kings. The Ninepenny Kings helped Alequo Adarys conquer Tyrosh and become its new Archon, then they invaded the Stepstone islands and began massing their forces for an invasion of Westeros. Before they could mount the assault, they were hit with a pre-emptive strike. A strong army of Westerosi troops landed on the Stepstones and defeated the Ninepenny Kings. Hoster and Brynden Tully won great acclaim, as did Lord Baelish of the Fingers, but the greatest honour fell to Ser Barristan Selmy, who faced Maelys in single combat. Maelys was known as 'The Monstrous', for it was said that he had consumed his own twin in the womb and had since sprouted a vestigial second head growing out of his shoulder. Using his skill at arms, Barristan killed Maelys, last of the Blackfyre Pretenders.

For his leal service, Barristan was named to the Kingsguard of King Jaehaerys. Elsewhere, the Golden Company, bereft of a cause, returned to the Free Cities and continued fighting for hire. And Hoster Tully made a friend for life of Lord Baelish, later agreeing to raise his son Petyr at Riverrun for a time.

King Aerys II Targaryen, popularly known as the Mad King.

The Reign of the Mad King
Shortly after the War of the Ninepenny Kings, Jaehaerys died and his son Aerys II took the throne. Aerys' reign began with great promise. He made the young, dynamic Tywin Lannister of Casterly Rock his Hand, and the realm prospered. The people were happy, the last rival claimants to the throne were dead and there was no prospect of war on the horizon.

As it happened, this very period of peace unsettled Aerys. He began hearing that it was Tywin who was responsible for peace, not him, and even tore out the tongue of one of Tywin's knights, Ser Ilyn Payne, for saying this in his hearing. When Lord Darklyn of Duskendale refused to pay his taxes, King Aerys disdained asking Tywin to handle it, instead leading his own troops to punish Darklyn. Instead, Aerys was captured and left imprisoned in the castle for several months. Tywin besieged the castle and Ser Barristan Selmy managed to rescue Aerys, but the experience left Aerys maddened with rage, fear and paranoia. He had the Darklyns burned alive.

Back in King's Landing, Aerys began seeing threats in every corner. He disdained marrying his son Rhaegar to Tywin's daughter, Cersei, saying that a king did not marry his heir to a servant. Instead, he married Rhaegar to Princess Elia Martell of Dorne. He also sent a force of knights into the Kingswood to put down an insurrection by the Kingswood Brotherhood. After Jaime Lannister showed great promise during this incident, Aerys named him to the Kingsguard. This meant that Jaime gave his claims to Tywin's castle and title in favour of his little brother, the ugly, stunted and deformed Tyrion. This insult was one too many for Tywin and he resigned the Handship and returned to Casterly Rock.

Aerys' madness became more apparent. In the Year of False Spring, Lord Whent of Harrenhal hosted a great tourney. Prince Rhaegar became the champion of the tournament, but rather name his own wife the Queen of Love and Beauty as was traditional, he named Lyanna Stark of Winterfell. A few months later Rhaegar snatched Lyanna from Winterfell and took her south. Her father and brother, Rickard and Brandon, went to King's Landing to demand justice. Instead, Aerys had them burned alive for questioning the authority of the Iron Throne.

Robert Baratheon and Rhaegar Targaryen at the Battle of the Trident.

Robert's Rebellion
Aerys' act in executing Rickard and Brandon Stark and holding Lyanna prisoner (or approving of his son doing the same) triggered a bloody uprising against Targaryen rule.

When he killed Brandon, Aerys also had his retainers put to death, including Elbert Arryn, the heir to Lord Jon Arryn of the Vale. Aerys then commanded Lord Jon Arryn to give up his young wards, Eddard Stark, now Lord of Winterfell, and Robert Baratheon, Lyanna Stark's betrothed. Instead, Jon Arryn called his banners. Eddard Stark travelled over the mountains and across the Bite to return to Winterfell and rouse the North, whilst Robert was able to return to Storm's End and call his own banners. In addition, Jon called on the allegiance of House Tully, since Lord Hoster's daughter Catelyn had been betrothed to Brandon. Catelyn wed Eddard instead, whilst Jon married her sister Lysa to shore up the audience.

Aerys' madness had brought the realm to the brink of disaster. The Starks, Arryns, Tullys and Baratheons, half of the Great Houses of Westeros, were in open rebellion and gathering armies to challenge the Targaryens. The Greyjoys and Lannisters refused to answer Aerys' commands for aid. The Martells did send some troops, but their response was apathetic: by taking Lyanna Stark as a paramour, Prince Rhaegar had dishonoured his wife Elia, a princess of Dorne. So Dornish troops were dispatched, but not many and not at speed. Of the Great Houses, only the Tyrells remained truly loyal to Aerys.

The royalists moved to decapitate the rebellion by killing Robert Baratheon. Armies were sent against Storm's End, but in a piecemeal fashion. Robert defeated three separate armies in three separate battles on the same day, winning their commanders to his cause through sheer strength of personality. He then suffered a defeat to Lord Randyll Tarly at the Battle of Ashford, but was able to withdraw northwards in good order. Rather than pursue Robert, Randyll Tarly and Mace Tyrell instead obeyed the Mad King's command to take Storm's End, and besieged the castle. Robert's brother Stannis held the castle against the siege for a year, and only survived thanks to a brave smuggler named Davos Seaworth who ran the blockade with cargo holds full of onions.

Robert became separated from most of his men and took refuge in the town of Stoney Sept on the upper Blackwater. The Mad King had replaced his lacklustre hand with Lord Jon Connington of Griffin's Roost, a young and dynamic knight. However, Connington refused to burn the town to the ground, instead preferring the glory of capturing Robert alive. Because of this, precious time was wasted and Eddard Stark was able to relieve the town during the mighty Battle of the Bells. After this, Jon Connington was exiled to the Free Cities for his failure.

The rebel armies gathered and marched on King's Landing. They were stopped by a larger army, commanded by Rhaegar Targaryen himself, on the banks of the Trident. A huge battle was fought, but Robert's forces gained the upper hand, and Robert smashed Rhaegar's life from him with his battlehammer. The royalist armies were routed and, with Robert injured, Eddard led the pursuit of the host back to King's Landing.

King's Landing now appeared doomed, but at the last moment a Lannister army marched out of the west, Lord Tywin proclaiming his loyalty to King Aerys. The city gates were opened, but the Lannisters brutally sacked the city instead. The Mad King was slain at the foot of the Iron Throne by his own Kingsguard, Ser Jaime Lannister, whilst Elia Martell and her two young children were killed by Lannister knights, most notably Gregor Clegane and Amory Lorch. The sack was still going on when Eddard Stark arrived with Robert's vanguard.

The rebellion was over. The Mad King was dead, and Robert Baratheon took the Iron Throne by blood right, as the grandson of King Aegon V's daughter. All of the great lords re-swore fealty to Robert as King. The only loose ends were the Mad King's wife and surviving son, Viserys. But the Mad King's wife died in childbirth, giving birth to a daughter, Daenerys. Loyal Targaryen retainers took Viserys and Daenerys into exile in the Free Cities, beyond Robert's grasp.

In the foothills of the mountains of Dorne, Eddard Stark found his sister dying from causes unknown, defended by three members of the Kingsguard. Eddard and his loyal men slew them, but only Eddard and his friend Howland Reed survived the battle. Lyanna passed away, after making Eddard swear a promise on his solemn oath. With Lyanna dead, Robert married Cersei Lannister to ensure her father's continued loyalty.

The Greyjoy Rebellion
Several years after Robert took the throne, Lord Balon Greyjoy of Pyke declared himself King of the Iron Islands, raising the standard of rebellion. His brothers Euron and Victarion Greyjoy attacked and burned the Lannister fleet at rest in Lannisport, as well as raiding Seagard and along the coast. Robert and Eddard moved swiftly to put down the rebellion. Stannis Baratheon and Paxter Redwyne's fleets joined forces and crushed the Greyjoy fleet at the Battle of Fair Isle, allowing Robert to land substantial forces on the Iron Islands unimpeded. Great siege ships battered a hole in the walls of Pyke, and the sellsword-priest Thoros of Myr led the way through the breach with a burning sword, Ser Jorah Mormont close behind him. The fighting was bitter and hard, but eventually Balon was forced to capitulate. He was badly outnumbered, and his two older sons were killed during the war. Balon Greyjoy re-swore fealty and his only surviving son Theon was given to Eddard Stark to raise as a ward and hostage against his father's good behaviour.

King Robert Baratheon ruled from the Iron Throne, whilst Lord Jon Arryn became a respected and wise Hand. Eddard Stark returned to Winterfell to rule the North, whilst in the east spies kept a careful watch on the movements of Daenerys and Viserys Targaryen. Robert and Cersei raised their children, Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen, whilst Eddard raised his, but found problems in getting his wife Catelyn to accept the presence of his bastard son Jon Snow, born on campaign. But overall, this was a period of peace and recovery from war.