House Tyrell

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House Tyrell is a fictional family in George R. R. Martin's epic fantasy book series A Song of Ice and Fire. House Tyrell is the principal noble house in the Reach; many lesser houses are sworn to them. Their seat is at Highgarden, a castle near the Manderly river. The Tyrells trace a line of descent, through the female line, to the legendary Garth Greenhand, the first King of the Reach in the Age of Heroes. Their sigil is a golden rose on a green field, and their words are "Growing Strong." The Tyrells were stewards to House Gardener, the ancient ruling line of Kings of the Reach, who periodically intermarried with lower ranking houses of the Reach such as Tyrell or Florent. After House Gardner was extinguished in the War of Conquest, the Tyrells surrendered Highgarden to the Targaryens. For their service they were created lords paramount in the Reach and Wardens of the South.

1 Genealogy of recent Tyrells
2 Tyrells in A Song of Ice and Fire
3 Houses sworn to House Tyrell

[edit] Genealogy of recent Tyrells

  Luthor══╤══Olenna Redwyne
          │
  ┌───────┼─────┐
  │     Mina  Janna
  │
 Mace══╤══Alerie Hightower
       │ 
  ┌────┼───────────────┬────────────┐
Willas │             Loras          │
       │                            │      
    Garlan══╤══Leonette Fossoway  Margaery

[edit] Tyrells in A Song of Ice and Fire

[edit] Mace

Lord of Highgarden, Defender of the Marches, High Marshal of the Reach, and Warden of the South. Mace Tyrell is a prematurely old and rather tedious man lacking in political savvy. His sole military accomplishment is the Siege of Storm's End. Though he has tried to use the Battle of Ashford as evidence of strategic brilliance, he actually had little to do with the fighting. He now serves only as the figurehead of his powerful house for his more intelligent family members.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Mace has always dreamed of his daughter being a Queen, thus when Renly and Loras presented the plan to crown Renly and have him wed Margaery, they had his full support. However, King Renly’s rule did not last long enough for him to consummate the marriage as he was slain at Storm’s End. When word of this reached Mace, he marched some ten thousand men to Bitterbridge to plan his next move with his sons. They were joined by Petyr Baelish with an offer from King Joffrey. Forming an alliance with house Lannister he was soon joined by Tywin's army to march on and defeat Stannis at the Blackwater. His reward was a seat on the Small Council. Later, he was charged with the capture of Storm’s End, but the siege was interrupted by news that Margaery had been imprisoned. He abandoned his charge and is currently marching his army on the city of King’s Landing.

[edit] Alerie Hightower

Lady Alerie Hightower Tyrell is Mace's wife and the eldest daughter of Lord Leyton Hightower, the Tyrells' most powerful bannerman. She is described as simpering by Cersei Lannister. Physically, she is an elegant woman, tall and lovely with long silver hair worn in a braid, held with jeweled rings.

[edit] Willas

Mace's eldest son, the heir to Highgarden. He was crippled in a tourney mishap while facing Oberyn Martell, the latest round in a longstanding feud between the two houses that continues to this day. Willas is described by others as a very intelligent, scholarly, and sensitive young man. He appears to hold no grudge on Oberyn for the accident, and communicates with him occasionally through letters.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Although he has not appeared directly in the story, Margaery and Olenna planned to marry him to Sansa Stark to gain Tyrell claim on the North, but the plot fell through. Tywin Lannister suggested him as a possible candidate for marriage to Cersei Lannister, but Mace refused the offer. The matter was dropped after Tywin's death.

[edit] Garlan

Mace's second son, he is known as Garlan the Gallant. Although his younger brother is renowned in the joust, Loras admits that Garlan is superior with the sword, making Garlan one of the best swordsmen in Westeros. Garlan often trains against two or three men at once. He is married to Leonette Fossaway, daughter of a Tyrell banner-house. They have no children of yet.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Garlan wore Lord Renly's armor during the Battle of the Blackwater, killing a dozen knights, including the famed warrior Ser Guyard Morrigen. The sight of what seemed to be a dead man leading the vanguard drove many of Stannis' men into panic. For his service on the Blackwater, Garlan was granted the Lordship of Brightwater Keep and the lands of the Florents, who were bannermen to the Tyrells but joined with Stannis. This reward makes Garlan a powerful lord in his own right. At Joffrey's wedding, he was one of a very few characters in the series to acknowledge and praise the abilities of Tyrion Lannister. During the wedding feast, he stood up for Tyrion when the drunken groom abused him, even rebuking the Joffrey in front of his court. During Tyrion's trial, Garlan attempted to defend him, but Tyrion realized that Cersei was using Garlan's honorable reputation to build a credible backbone for her case. After Margaery and Tommen's wedding he returned to the Reach with some ten thousand men in an attempt claim his new lands of Brightwater.

[edit] Loras

Mace's third son, known as the Knight of Flowers, is a highly skilled knight and jouster. His tournament successes, dazzling good looks, and ostentatious showmanship have made him a celebrated figure in the courts of the Seven Kingdoms. Despite his youth and slender frame, he is a capable warrior, using swords, axes, and morning-stars to deadly effect.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Loras Tyrell attended the Hand's Tourney wearing armor wrought with jeweled flowers, with a cape of woven roses. With each victory, he handed a white rose to a pretty girl in the crowd. He then handed a red rose to Sansa Stark, the Hand's daughter, who was overwhelmed by his gallantry and was thereafter infatuated with him. Although reputed to be very gallant, he rode a mare in heat against Gregor Clegane, noted as an underhanded tactic by some, inflaming the huge knight's stallion, which bucked him, prompting Gregor to attack Loras. After Sandor Clegane came to his rescue, Loras forfeited the final round to him.

As a youth, he was fostered at Storm's End and served as a page and squire to Renly Baratheon, and they had a clandestine homosexual love affair. When Lord Renly made his claim for the Iron Throne, Loras and the rest of House Tyrell backed Renly's claim, and cemented their support by marrying Loras' sister Margaery to Renly. Renly made Loras the head of his Rainbow Guard, a fancifully ostentatious version of the Kingsguard, and the two remained inseparable even after Renly's wedding. After Renly's assassination, Loras went berserk, killing the two Rainbow Guards in charge of protecting him that night. He believed Brienne of Tarth and Catelyn Stark had perpetrated the assassination, but was unable to apprehend them. When the Tyrells joined the Lannister cause against Stannis, Loras fought beside his brother Garlan, who wore Renly's armor and impersonated the fallen lord at the Battle of the Blackwater.

Loras joined the Kingsguard at his father's behest, to protect his sister Margaery when she became the Queen, although his appointment to the Kingsguard had a secondary purpose of obviating the need on the part of his father to arrange a worthy marriage for him, as his sexual orientation was quietly questioned by many. He quickly became very popular with the citizens of King's Landing. Loras maintained a close relationship with his sister, but Renly's loss continued to pain him. It was suggested that he train the young King Tommen in the ways of an armed knight, a suggestion that Queen Cersei flatly refused, using veiled innuendo regarding his manhood as a reason. Later still, after the invasion of the Shield Islands by the ironborn, Cersei used Loras's reckless state to manipulate him into quickly ending the siege of Dragonstone, hoping that he would endanger himself in the process. Loras departed the city amid throngs of admiring onlookers, mostly women. He was reported to have won the island stronghold in an unnecessary bloodbath. True to Cersei's hopes, it was reported that he was horribly injured by boiling oil in the battle. His status is so far unconfirmed.

[edit] Margaery

Mace's only daughter, Margaery is an intelligent and shrewd young woman, very much the protégé of her cunning grandmother, Olenna. She is also very beautiful, with softly curling brown hair, brown eyes and a slender yet shapely figure.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Margaery was first married to King Renly Baratheon, as a pledge of loyalty from the Tyrell family. When he was killed, the Tyrells allied with the Lannisters, wedding Margaery to King Joffrey Baratheon. After Joffrey was poisoned at their wedding feast, Margaery was wed yet again, this time to Joffrey's younger brother Tommen, a little boy who was then crowned king. In the months after their marriage, the Queen Regent Cersei schemed to dispose of Margaery and the Tyrells, taking advantage of Margaery's claim to still be a maid despite her marriage to Renly. This claim may or may not be true; Margaery's maidenhead was confirmed to have been ruptured by a Septa who inspected her, but as communicated to the readers by Cersei, highborn girls often have their maidenheads broken by horseback-riding.

While Tommen's queen, she did much to curry favor with the populace, visiting local markets and buying fresh fruits, breads and fish, and ordering dresses and such from many local seamstresses, and making great public shows of charity, all while travelling with a bright and colorful retinue. Margaery suggested several activities for Tommen in an effort to shape him into a successful ruler, such as riding in sight of his subjects and observing sessions of the Small Council. Cersei forbade all of Margaery's suggestions. Later, Margaery recognized the military threat created by the ironborn invasion of the Shield Islands, and was incredulous at Cersei's lack of understanding.

Cersei accused Margaery of adultery and treason, lining up an impressive, if untrue, array of conspirators and evidence; she was arrested, and imprisoned to await trial by the Faith at the Great Sept of Baelor. While in custody, she confronted Cersei, revealing that she knew that this was all the doings of her "good-mother" (mother-in-law), and that she knew Cersei wanted to remove her from a position of influence, perhaps by arranging for her death. Later, one of Cersei's key witnesses revealed her plots under torture, and Cersei soon found herself sharing Margaery's plight. Their fate is unknown.

[edit] Olenna Redwyne

Mace's mother, widow of Lord Luthor Tyrell, Lady Olenna was born of House Redwyne, a powerful bannerhouse of House Tyrell. She is a wizened, cunning old woman with a wicked wit and a sharp tongue, which had earned her the sobriquet "the Queen of Thorns." She is often accompanied by seven-foot tall identical twin guards whom she calls "Left" and "Right".

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Olenna was introduced in A Storm of Swords, sharply questioning Sansa Stark on Joffrey's nature, apparently concerned about the rumors that followed the boy that was to wed her granddaughter. She refused to accept Sansa's half-truths and polite evasions. After getting Sansa to speak about Joffrey's cruelty and the beatings he gave her, Olenna began talking of taking Sansa away to Highgarden and marrying her to Willas. Petyr Baelish later claimed that Lady Olenna was King Joffrey's poisoner. The truth of this charge is unclear, but Olenna did appear to remove a bead from Sansa's hairnet, and it is strongly implied by several characters that the beads in this net were actually a deadly poison in disguise.

[edit] Houses sworn to House Tyrell

Ashford of Ashford
Bulwer of Blackcrown. The Bulwers are cousins of the Tyrell family, with a member, Victaria Tyrell, marrying into the family at some point in the recent past. The Lady of House Bulwer, Alysanne, is Victaria's daughter. She is a little girl and one of Margaery's ladies-in-waiting.
Chester The Lord of House Chester is given the title of Lord of Greenshield.
Crane of Red Lake
Florent of Brightwater Keep. A proud, prosperous and ambitious house that insists it has a better claim to the overlordship of the Reach than House Tyrell, citing a more senior line of descent from the Gardener kings. Their seat, Brightwater Keep, is a great holding. They are affiliated to the Baratheons through the marriage of Seleyse Florent to Stannis Baratheon.
Fossoway. Two branches exist:
- The "red apple" Fossoways of Cider Hall
- The "green apple" Fossoways of New Barrel, a cadet branch descending from Raymun Fossoway. The house's creation is described in The Hedge Knight.
Grimm of Grimstone. The Lord of House Grimm is given the title of Lord of Greyshield.
Hewett of Hewett Castle. The Lord of House Hewett is given the title of Lord of Oakenshield.
Hightower of the Hightower. They are the Lords of Oldtown, one of the largest cities in Westeros and a great port. The Hightower in Oldtown is the tallest structure in Westeros, serving as a beacon for mariners and a residence for the Hightower family. As masters of Oldtown, the Hightower family is very influential. The Lord of House Hightower, Leyton, carries the titles "Voice of Oldtown and Lord of the Port". Mace's wife, Alerie, was born a Hightower, the daughter of Lord Leyton. Leyton reputedly never descends from the tower, nor does does his daughter, Mallora, called the "Mad Maid."
Merryweather of Longtable
Mullendore of Uplands
Oakheart of Old Oak. Ser Arys Oakheart (a POV character), is a member of the Kingsguard. The current ruler of Old Oak is Lady Arwyn Oakheart, a delicate and gracious woman.
Osgrey of Standfast. The Hedge Knight describes the service of Ser Duncan the Tall to Ser Eustace Osgrey.
Redwyne of the Arbor, a large island off of Westeros proper. Redwyne is a powerful house with strong ties to the Tyrells. They provide a significant portion of the Tyrells' fleet. Mace's mother, Olenna, was born a Redwyne. Additionally, Mace's sister, Mina, is Lord Paxter Redwyne's lady-wife. The Arbor area is famous for its wines.
Rowan of Goldengrove
Serry The Lord of House Serry is given the title of Lord of Southshield.
Tarly of Horn Hill. The current Lord of Horn Hill is Randyll Tarly. He is a famous soldier who defeated Robert Baratheon at the battle of Ashford. His eldest son Samwell is a member of the Night's Watch and a friend of Jon Snow. The Tarlys are one of the few Westerosi families that own a Valyrian steel sword; the Tarly sword is called Heartsbane.
Vyrwel of Darkdell