Difference between revisions of "Robert's Rebellion"

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| commander1            = [[Robert Baratheon]]<br>[[Jon Arryn]]<br>[[Eddard Stark]]<br>[[Stannis Baratheon]]<br>[[Hoster Tully]]<br>[[Tywin Lannister]]
 
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Revision as of 13:52, 30 August 2012

The War of the Usurper
Robert's Rebellion
Roberts Rebellion.jpg
Date 282 AC-283 AC
Location Westeros
Battles Summerhall
Ashford
Battle of the Bells
The Trident
King's Landing
Storm's End
Tower of Joy
Result Decisive victory for the rebel forces; House Baratheon of King's Landing becomes new royal line
Belligerents
The Rebels
House Baratheon

House Stark House Tully House Arryn

House Lannister (late war)
The Royalists
House Targaryen

House Tyrell

House Martell
Notable commanders
Robert Baratheon
Jon Arryn
Eddard Stark
Stannis Baratheon
Hoster Tully
Tywin Lannister
Aerys II Targaryen
Rhaegar Targaryen
Owen Merryweather
Jon Connington
Qarlton Chelsted
Mace Tyrell
Randyll Tarly
Barristan Selmy
Lewyn Martell
Jonothor Darry

Robert's Rebellion, also known as the War of the Usurper, was a rebellion against House Targaryen, primarily instigated by Eddard Stark, Jon Arryn, and Robert Baratheon, for whom it is named. It lasted almost two years and resulted in the end of the Targaryen dynasty in the Seven Kingdoms and the beginning of Robert Baratheon's reign.

Causes

The conflict was instigated after Rhaegar Targaryen had kidnapped Lyanna Stark, who was betrothed to Robert Baratheon. Despite the pleading of Hoster Tully for patience, her brother Brandon Stark rode to the city of King's Landing. There, he went into the Red Keep shouting for Prince Rhaegar to come out and die. King Aerys II arrested him and his companions (his squire Ethan Glover, Jeffory Mallister, Kyle Royce, and the nephew and heir of the Lord of the Eyrie Elbert Arryn) for threatening and conspiring to murder the crown prince.[1]

King Aerys II, who had become increasingly paranoid, since his several months of confined imprisonment during the Defiance of Duskendale, had ordered the fathers of the prisoners to come south to answer the charges against their sons. When they did, they and their sons were all murdered without trial.[1] Ethan Glover was the only survivor. Lord Rickard Stark, who demanded a trial by combat, was roasted in his armor, as his son Brandon was put in a strangulation device and was forced to watch, strangling himself in the process of trying to save his father. [1] Soon after, the Mad King demanded the heads of Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark from their guardian, Jon Arryn, Lord of the Eyrie. Rather than comply, Lord Arryn raised his banners in revolt against these unjust acts.[2]

Combatants

When Lord Arryn raised his banners in revolt, many of his bannermen sided with the King, chief among them Lord Randyll Grafton, who called the other loyalists to aid him in barring the rebels from entering the port of Gulltown. Eddard Stark decided to make his own way back to the North via the Fingers. Gulltown's defenses eventually fell, with Robert returning to Storm's End after slaying Lord Grafton. Both he and Eddard then called on their own bannermen.

Next House Tully joined the war on the rebels' side, following the marriage of Eddard and Jon to Catelyn and Lysa respectively, binding House Stark, Tully and Arryn together.[2] However, like in the Vale, not all the Tully bannermen joined the rebel cause. Houses Ryger, Darry, Goodbrook and Mooton took the side of the Targaryens in the war and Frey remained neutral until the situation became clearer.

After all the rebels were united, it was decided they would stand behind Robert, whose grandmother had been the daughter of King Aegon V Targaryen, giving him the best claim to the throne outside of Aerys, his children and grandchildren.

In turn, King Aerys summoned his own banners. All Targaryen bannermen responded, as did houses Tyrell and Martell who stayed loyal to the throne as did all of their bannermen, including Redwyne and Hightower. However, House Lannister, led by Tywin Lannister, who had recently resigned his post as Hand of the King ignored the summons, while House Greyjoy decided to remain neutral throughout the conflict.

Course of the war

Overview of the war: 1 Summerhall, 2 Ashford, 3 Battle of the Bells, 4 The Trident, 5 King's Landing, 6 Storm's End. The colors represent faction amies: Baratheon. Stark. Tyrell. Lannister. Targaryen.

Battle of Summerhall

The Battle of Summerhall (1 on the map) was actually three battles all fought on one day. Robert hit three independent loyalist forces before they could converge upon him. Lords Grandison, Cafferen, and Fell planned to join their hosts at Summerhall and march on Storm’s End, but Robert learned of their plans and struck first, attacking each army individually as they arrived. Lord Fell died in the battle and Robert's forces captured his son, Silveraxe. Lords Grandison and Cafferen, both loyalist commanders, went over to Robert after the battle, as did Silveraxe.

Battle of Ashford

The Battle of Ashford (2 on the map) was an indecisive victory for loyalist forces when Randyll Tarly's van smashed Robert’s forces before the bulk of Mace Tyrell’s main force could be brought to bear. Lord Cafferen, a former Loyalist turned rebel after the Battle of Summerhall, was cut down by Randyll Tarly while fighting under Robert’s banner. Lord Tarly sent Lord Cafferen’s head to King Aerys. By all indications, the battle was indecisive, however Mace likes to remember it as his one great victory over Robert despite his lack of involvement.

Battle of the Bells

The Battle of the Bells (3 on the map) took place at Stoney Sept. Aerys’ forces were chasing after Robert Baratheon, attempting to cut him off from his northern allies. Robert was wounded and hiding in Stoney Sept. Jon Connington, the new Hand, took the town by force and began searching from house to house. Eddard and Hoster Tully's forces swept into the town. Connington fought back fiercely. Robert came out at that point and led a counterattack. When Connington saw the battle was lost, he retreated in good order. After the battle, Aerys realized that Robert was not some outlaw lord, but rather the greatest threat to his dynasty since Daemon Blackfyre. He exiled Lord Connington for his failure and ordered his pyromancers to place caches of wildfire throughout King’s Landing, even within the Red Keep itself.

Battle of the Trident

The Battle of the Trident (4 on the map) was the decisive battle of the war, matching the forces of Robert against the Targaryen loyalists. Rhaegar and Robert met in single combat on the ford of the Trident while the battle crashed around them. Robert slew Rhaegar with a blow to the chest from his warhammer so powerful that it smashed the rubies right from the armor. After Rhaegar fell, the Targaryen host broke and ran. Because Robert had suffered a grievous wound in the battle, he gave the command of the army to Eddard Stark. With the war all but won, House Frey declared for the rebels.

Sack of King's Landing

The Sack of King’s Landing (5 on the map) occurred one year into the rebellion. Lord Tywin Lannister, who had remained neutral until the Battle of the Trident made the rebel victory a foregone conclusion, marched to the gates of King’s Landing, claiming loyalty to Aerys and asking to be let in. Aerys favored the advice of Grand Maester Pycelle over that of his spymaster Varys and opened the gates of the city. The Lannister forces then began to sack the city in Robert's name. Realizing all was lost, Aerys ordered his most recent Hand, the pyromancer Rossart, to ignite the wildfire caches throughout the city, saying, "Let [Robert] be king over charred bones and cooked meat. Let him be the king of ashes."

Aerys then ordered Jaime Lannister, one of his Kingsguard and Tywin's own son, to kill his father. Instead, Jaime slew Lord Rossart and then murdered Aerys himself on the Iron Throne. Tywin sent his knights, Gregor Clegane and Amory Lorch, to deal with the rest of the royal family, securing the throne for Robert and proving that House Lannister had forsaken the Targaryens forever. Gregor killed the baby crown prince Aegon while his mother watched, and then raped and murdered Princess Elia herself. Amory dragged princess Rhaenys from under her father's bed and killed her. When Eddard Stark arrived shortly thereafter, he found Jaime seated on the Iron Throne and Aerys's corpse slumped below it. Tywin Lannister presented the bodies of Elia, Aegon and Rhaenys as tokens of his fealty. The resulting argument between Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon over this brutal act led to Stark riding out alone to finish the war in the south.[3]

Siege of Storm's End

Although more attrition than actual battle, the Siege of Storm’s End (6 on the map) held up Mace Tyrell’s forces at Storm's End for the better part of the entire war. During this siege the forces of the Reach, led by Mace and Paxter Redwyne, feasted within sight of the castle while Stannis Baratheon and his men starved inside. Help eventually came in the form of Davos Seaworth, who smuggled a cargo of onions past the blockade. In the end, Stannis and his forces held out until Eddard Stark arrived and Lord Tyrell dipped his banners.[4]

Dragonstone

After the Siege of Storm's End was lifted, Stannis was given command of a fleet to take the last Targaryen stronghold, Dragonstone. After the royalist defeat at the Trident, Queen Rhaella and Prince Viserys had been sent to the island with the Red Keep's Master-at-Arms, Ser Willem Darry. The Queen died in childbed giving birth to Daenerys Targaryen during a great storm that destroyed the Targaryen fleet at anchor.[5]

Before Stannis's arrival, Ser Willem and a handful of men smuggled Viserys, Daenerys, and her wet nurse from the nursery and sailed for Braavos, where the last Targaryens began their lives of wandering exile.

Skirmish at the Tower of Joy - The End of Aerys's Kingsguard

Ser Arthur Dayne, Ser Oswell Whent, and the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Gerold Hightower had been absent from the battles on the Trident, King's Landing, and Storm's End. They were later found guarding a small tower, named the Tower of Joy, in the Red Mountains of Dorne where Prince Rhaegar had been holding Lyanna Stark. Lord Eddard rode there with six companions: Howland Reed, Willam Dustin, Ethan Glover, Martyn Cassel, Theo Wull and Mark Ryswell, after lifting the siege of Storm's End. The seven companions fought the three Kingsguard, with only Eddard and Howland surviving. Lyanna died shortly after she extracted a promise from her brother. Eddard then tore down the Tower to make cairns for the dead. Afterwards, Eddard rode to Starfall to deliver Arthur's sword Dawn to his sister Ashara Dayne, who leapt into the sea shortly afterwards.

Outcome

Following the successful conclusion of the Rebellion, House Targaryen was displaced from power and most of its members wiped out, with only two survivors who were sneaked off into exile across the narrow sea. Robert Baratheon took the Iron Throne and named Jon Arryn his Hand. As Lyanna Stark had died after her abduction, he married Cersei Lannister instead. Arryn negotiated a truce with Dorne, and the Seven Kingdoms confirmed Robert as king.

References and sources

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