Robert I Baratheon

From A Wiki of Ice and Fire
Revision as of 03:59, 15 December 2011 by Gonzalo (talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search
Robert Baratheon
House Baratheon.PNG
House Baratheon.PNG
Robert Baratheon.jpg
by Amoka©
Monarch
Reign 283 AC - 298 AC
Full name Robert Baratheon the First of His Name
Titles
Predecessor Aerys II
Heir Joffrey Baratheon
Successor Joffrey I
Personal Information
Alias The Usurper
Born In 263 AC
Died At King's Landing
Buried In 298 AC, at Storm's End
Family
Dynasty House Baratheon
Queen Cersei Lannister
Issue See Known bastards
Father Steffon Baratheon
Mother Cassana Estermont
References
Book A Game of Thrones
Played by Mark Addy
TV series Season 1
Mark Addy as Robert Baratheon (TV series)

Robert Baratheon was the head of House Baratheon and King of the Seven Kingdoms until his untimely death in 298 AL. Robert Baratheon was crowned King of the Seven Kingdoms after winning the War of the Usurper.

Appearance

A large man, though not particularly intelligent, Robert was once a renowned warrior. In his youth he was described as tall, broad shouldered and muscled like a maiden's fantasy. He kept himself clean shaven. However, after winning the crown he become overweight from excessive feasting and drinking, eventually gaining over sixteen stone and growing a beard to hide his multiple chins.[1] He is known for his gregarious personality and remarkable ability to turn enemies into friends.

History

Robert Baratheon was eldest son of Steffon Baratheon and Cassana Estermont. When his parents died in a shipwreck in sight of their castle, Storm's End, Robert was raised by Jon Arryn. While in the Vale he met Eddard Stark, another foster-child of Arryn, and they became fast friends. Later he was set to be married to Eddard's sister, Lyanna Stark, whom he loved deeply, albeit from a distance .

When Rhaegar Targaryen apparently kidnapped her, Robert was driven almost mad by the thought of Rhaegar raping her. Together with Eddard and their foster father Jon Arryn, he started the War of the Usurper. Although he won the rebellion and killed Rhaegar, Lyanna died during the conflict. Robert was thereafter haunted by her memory and the desire for further vengeance against the slain Rhaegar.[2]

His hatred was so great that when Tywin Lannister presented Robert with the mutilated bodies of Rhaegar's wife and two young children, Robert was actually pleased they were dead. Eddard Stark on the other hand was outraged and disgusted by the act, calling it murder and saying the young prince and princess were no more than babes. Robert's callous response was: "I see no babes, only dragonspawn".

Even Jon Arryn could not cool the rage and argument that followed between Robert and Eddard over that. Eddard left the Red Keep in a black rage to relieve the siege of Storm's End. It took the death of Lyanna and their shared grief to reunite the pair in friendship.

Robert took the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms due to a distant relation to the Targaryens and married Cersei Lannister. He pardoned many of his former enemies and won some over as allies. As Hand of the King, Jon Arryn, along with Robert's brother Stannis, held the Seven Kingdoms together while Robert ate, drank, hunted, and whored.

Six years after taking the crown, Robert and Eddard joined forces again to crush the Greyjoy Rebellion, which cemented Robert's position on the Iron Throne. Robert subsequently beggared the realm with the expense of his tournaments and feasts, despite the fact Aerys had left treasure vaults overflowing with gold. Robert's spending eventually left the crown in debt for over six million golden dragons (borrowing heavily from the Lannisters, the Tyrells, the Faith and the Iron Bank of Braavos). Due to his frequent whoring, Robert also sired many bastards. According to Donal Noye, he was changed by becoming a king and not for the better.[3]

A Game of Thrones

When Jon Arryn died suddenly, Robert journeyed to Winterfell to meet the last person he truly trusted, Eddard Stark, after a long separation. Robert appeared to Eddard a broken man, unhealthy and unhappy.[4] Eddard reluctantly took the job of Hand and came to King's Landing. He, like Jon Arryn, did much of the work as Robert seldom bothered to attend council meetings. Robert confessed to Ned that he dreamed about giving up his crown and journeying to the Free Cities as a sellsword so he would spend his life warring and whoring, believing that's what he was made for; only the thought of Joffrey on the Iron Throne with his mother whispering in his ear kept Robert from indulging his fantasy.

When Robert called a meeting to demand the death of the pregnant Daenerys Targaryen, Eddard refused to be a part of it and resigned his handship in protest. After Eddard's injury, however, Robert visited his friend and gave him back his badge of office, stating that if Ned refused to take it, Robert would pin it on Jaime Lannister. While Robert was off on one of his hunts, Eddard discovered that Robert's children were in fact Cersei's bastards born of incest with her brother, the Kingslayer. Eddard, remembering the dead bodies of Rhaegars children, mercifully gave Cersei and her children a chance to flee, threatening to reveal her secret to Robert when he returned from his hunt.

Acting first, Cersei had Robert's squire, her cousin Lancel, give Robert a very strong wine, three times as potent as normal, which caused him to get very drunk. When the hunting party finally tracked down a large boar, Robert was so inebriated that he missed his mark and wound up getting charged down and mortally gored. According to Varys, if it had not been the boar, it would have been a fall from a horse or an arrow gone astray, as Cersei needed Robert dead before he returned from his hunt.

When Robert returned badly wounded and near death, he had Eddard visit him and make a will. Eddard, seeing how much pain Robert was in, did not reveal the secret of Joffrey's parentage, not wanting to add further pain to his dying friend. Instead, when writing the will, Eddard replaced "My son Joffrey" with "my heir". Robert died a day later. His death tipped off a struggle for power that lead to the War of the Five Kings.

Known bastards

Although Robert Baratheon is known to have fathered - according to Maggy the Frog's prophecy - at least sixteen bastards, only one has been acknowledged. Five have been seen by POV characters, while two others have been mentioned only in passing.

  • Gendry. An unacknowledged bastard who was born to a worker in an alehouse. When he was old enough, an unknown lord paid his apprentice fee so he could learn to be a blacksmith. Gendry developed a reputation for stubbornness and fashioned a bull's head helmet, causing him to be named the "Bull". Following the death of Robert, Varys arranged for the boy to flee the city with Yoren of the Night's Watch. Gendry knew that Queen Cersei wanted him dead, although he did not know why. He traveled with Arya Stark until the Brotherhood Without Banners captured them and he joined the organization. The Brotherhood later placed him at the Old Crossroads Inn to look after a group of orphans there.
  • Mya Stone. A bastard daughter born to Robert in the Vale. She served as a guide to and from the Eyrie, and became a favorite companion to Sansa Stark. Eddard Stark remembered that Robert was very fond of her, although like all his bastard children he later abandoned her.
  • Edric Storm. Robert's only acknowledged bastard son, born to Delena Florent.[5] He lived at Storm's End under the protection of Cortnay Penrose, the castellan. Stannis laid siege to the castle with the goal of capturing Edric Storm and using him to prove his claims of Cersei's incestuous affair with her brother. The red witch Melisandre also aimed to use Edric's blood to raise the dragons of Dragonstone. Davos Seaworth smuggled Edric away from Dragonstone before he could be sacrificed.
  • Bella. An unacknowledged bastard daughter who lived at the brothel called "the Peach" in Stoney Sept.
  • Barra. The youngest of Robert's known bastard children, born to a King's Landing prostitute. A baby, she was killed by Allar Deem under Cersei's orders following the death of Robert.
  • Two unnamed twins. Petyr Baelish hints that Robert fathered twins to a serving woman at Casterly Rock who were killed by Queen Cersei's agents.[6]

Family

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Ormund
 
Rhaelle
Targaryen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Steffon
 
Cassana
Estermont
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Various
women
 
Robert I
 
Cersei
Lannister
 
Renly I
 
Margaery
Tyrell
[7]
 
Stannis I
 
Selyse
Florent
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Joffrey I
 
Margaery
Tyrell
[7]
 
Tommen I
 
Myrcella
 
 
 
Shireen
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mya
Stone
 
Bella
 
Gendry
 
Edric
Storm
 
Barra
 
Unknown
twins
 
9 Others
 


See also

References and Notes

  1. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 4, Eddard
  2. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 4, Eddard
  3. A Clash of Kings, Chapter 6, Jon
  4. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 4, Eddard
  5. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 35, Eddard
  6. A Game of Thrones, Chapter 35, Eddard
  7. 7.0 7.1 Margaery Tyrell married 1st Renly, 2nd Joffrey, 3rd Tommen

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at House Baratheon. The list of authors can be seen in the page history of House Baratheon. As with A Wiki of Ice and Fire, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.