Rickard Thorne

Ser Rickard Thorne
Rickard Thorne defending Prince Maelor Targaryen, as depicted by Douglas Wheatley in Fire & Blood.
Alias	False knight
Title	Ser
Allegiances	House Thorne Kingsguard Greens
Culture	Crownlands
Died	130 AC Bitterbridge
Books	The World of Ice & Fire (mentioned) Fire & Blood (mentioned) The Rise of the Dragon (mentioned) The Princess and the Queen (mentioned)
Played by	Vincent Regan
TV series	House of the Dragon: Season 2

Rickard Thorne was a knight from House Thorne and a member of the Kingsguard during the reigns of kings Viserys I and Aegon II Targaryen.

In the television adaptation House of the Dragon, Rickard is portrayed by Vincent Regan.

Character

Rickard wielded a longsword.

History

After the death of King Viserys I Targaryen in 129 AC, Rickard choose the side of King Aegon II Targaryen and the greens in the ensuing civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons.

In 130 AC, during the fall of King's Landing, when Queen Rhaenyra Targaryen's dragons first appeared in the skies above the city, Lord Larys Strong, the master of whisperers, smuggled King Aegon II, Princess Jaehaera, and Prince Maelor Targaryen to safety through a secret passage known only to Larys within Maegor's Holdfast. The party was accompanied by two members of the Kingsguard, Ser Rickard and Ser Willis Fell. Ser Willis was charged to bring Jaehaera to Storm's End, and Maelor was put in Rickard's charge. Rickard swore to bring the three-year-old prince safely to Oldtown.

After the escape, Queen Rhaenyra posted huge rewards for information leading to the capture of Aegon, Jaehaera, Maelor, and Larys, as well as the "false knights" Willis and Rickard. When that failed to produce anything, Rhaenyra sent out hunting parties of "knights inquisitor" to seek out the escapees, and punish anyone who helped them.

Rickard Thorne traveled incognito, and claimed Maelor was his son. At the blacks-held Bitterbridge, Rickard attempted to stay at the Hogs Head, a disreputable inn, but there were no rooms left. Rickard showed a silver stag to the innkeep, Ben Buttercakes, and Ben allowed him to stay in the stables, if he cleaned them first. Once Rickard did so, Ben offered him a drink, as a pretext for his stableboy to search for more money in Rickard's belongings. Sly did not find any coins, but he did find Maelor's dragon egg, wrapped in Rickard's white cloak. When Sly informed the inn's common room of his discovery, Rickard fled the inn with Maelor, slaying Ben on his way out and stealing a horse from the stables, while a mob of people followed. Not long after, Rickard was killed by crossbowmen on the city's stone bridge, though the Kingsguard clung to his charge until the end. A washerwoman, Willow Pound-Stone, had to tear a crying Maelor from his arms.

However, once the mob killed Rickard and seized Maelor, they did not know what to do with him. They debated whether to bring him to far away King's Landing for Rhaenyra's reward, or take him to nearby Longtable and the camp of the green Lord Ormund Hightower, who might pay more for Maelor. A fight broke out between Sly the stableboy, the crossbowman who had killed Rickard, and Willow Pound-Stone, who said no one was going to hurt her new son. It is disputed what happened next: Mushroom claims Willow Pound-Stone accidentally crushed Maelor to death, Eustace says he was chopped into six pieces by a butcher so everyone might have a piece, and Munkun writes that Maelor was torn apart by the mob. All that is known for sure is that by the time Lady Caswell and her knights arrived, Maelor was dead.

Lady Caswell, after hanging those responsible for the prince's death, had Ser Rickard's corpse and Maelor's head sent to Queen Rhaenyra at King's Landing.