Summary
House Baratheon is the premier House in the Seven Kingdoms at the beginning ofGame of Thrones, with Robert I’s ascension to the Iron Throne a relatively new development. Roughly sixteen years have passed since Robert’s Rebellion, i.e., the overthrow of the Targaryen dynasty. As seen inGame of Thrones, this Baratheon is the king of misrule and has inherited massive debt from his Queen, Cersei Lannister’s father, Lord Tywin Lannister. Robert I is promiscuous, and sires numerous illegitimate children, while his late Hand, Jon Arryn did his best to keep him grounded.
Things take an interesting turn after the mysterious “death” of Jon Arryn, and Robert I is forced to ask his oldest friend, who followed him to war, to be his Hand. Shortly afterward, the king himself is killed by his wife, Cersei, and the Lannisters becomethe true power in Westeros, in that, Robert I has no trueborn children. The two boy kings who rule after him are born out of incest between Cersei and her brother, Jaime. While House Baratheon of Storm’s End is a relatively young Great House of Westeros, the question remains, how did it rise to prominence?
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King Argilac Durrandon, Orys Baratheon And Argella Durrandon
Before the Targaryen unification, the continent of Westeros was divided into seven warring kingdoms namely, the Kingdom of North, the Kingdom of the Vale, the Iron Islands and the Riverlands, the Westerlands, the Reach, the Stormlands and Dorne. The establishment of House Baratheon has to do with the Targaryen conquest of the Stormlands, and the last of the Storm Kings, namely, Argilac Durrandon. Before Aegon landed on Westeros' mainland to begin his expansionism, the aggression had already begun in the wake of Argilac cutting off the hands of aTargaryen envoy. This event catapulted into the War of Conquest fought acrossthe Seven Kingdoms.
Argilac the Arrogant feared an onslaught in the Stormlands from Harren Hoare and sought to marry his heir, Argella to Aegon in an attempt to establish a buffer between him and Harren’s kingdom. To that end, he sent an envoy to Dragonstone and promised the lands east of the Gods Eye from the Trident tothe Blackwater Rushin Argella’s dowry. Aegon declined, but offered his confidant, rumored half-brother and a general in his army, Orys Baratheon’s hand in this marriage instead.
This counterproposal angered Argilac, and he sent Aegon’s envoy’s hands to Dragonstone with the message:
These are the only hands your bastard shall have of me.
The move sparked the Conquest and in response, Aegon summoned his bannermen on Dragonstone and sent out ravens to every corner of the Seven Kingdoms, proclaiming himself King.
Orys - The Lord Of Storm’s End
A while into the expansion, after the burning of Harrenhal, the Storm King decided it would be best to meet the Targaryens in the open. Orys and Rhaenys fought and defeated Argilac in the Battle of the Last Storm. Orys personally killed Argilac, and in the battle’s aftermath, Argella barred Storm’s End and declared herself Storm Queen. Betrayed by her garrison who feared the same fate as Harren and his men, she was delivered to Orys in chains. He treated her gently, cloaked her, and offered her food and wine. The two married and Aegon named Orys Lord Paramount of the Stormlands. Not only that, the Baratheon took House Durrandon’s sigil (a black stag on yellow) and words (Ours is the Fury) and established House Baratheon. The first Lord of Storm’s End, the first Hand of the King, Orys Baratheon is a remarkable man inGame of Throneslore.
House Baratheon In Game Of Thrones
As seen inGame of Thrones, true to their House Words, the Baratheons are mercurial. They are black of hair, with strong muscular physiques, and defined square jawlines.King Robert Baratheonled his House as he was the eldest son of Steffon Baratheon who was the Lord of Storm’s End, Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, and head of his House.
Robert’s birth was followed by that of Stannis and Renly. After Robert’s Rebellion, House Baratheon was divided into three branches. Robert was King of the Andals and Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and he ruled from the Red Keep in the capital, thereby establishingHouse Baratheon of King’s Landing. He bestowed the castle of Dragonstone upon Stannis, thereby creating House Baratheon of Dragonstone. The third branch - House Baratheon of Storm’s End was headed by the youngest brother, Renly.
Inthe War of the Five Kings, both Stannis and Renly were in open rebellion against the illegitimate king, Joffrey. After Robert’s assassination, Stannis was next in the line of succession, but Renly asserted he was the king. Renly was assassinated at the hands of a shadow monster, commissioned by Stannis himself. Later in the conflict, Stannis was defeated in the Battle in the Ice and executed by Renly’s former Kingsguard, Brienne of Tarth. Though pure-blooded members of House Baratheon were gone by the end ofGame of Thrones, Daenerys legitimized Robert’s son, Gendry, and made him Lord of Storm’s End, thus paving the way for the Baratheons to continue their line.
