Wedding of Tommen I Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell

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Tommen Baratheon by Amok ©

The wedding of Tommen I Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell takes place in 300 AC in the aftermath of the War of the Five Kings, with King Tommen I Baratheon marrying Margaery Tyrell at the Red Keep in King's Landing.[1]

Prelude

When the War of the Five Kings breaks out after the death of King Robert I Baratheon, his brother Renly marries Margaery Tyrell at Highgarden and claims the Iron Throne with the support of House Tyrell.[2] Margaery's father, Lord Mace Tyrell, is eager for her to be a queen,[3] and he also wants to be the grandfather of a king.[4] Renly is assassinated, however, leaving Margaery a widow.[5]

Robert's brother Stannis is defeated in the Battle of the Blackwater,[6] and Margaery agrees to marry Robert's supposed son, King Joffrey I Baratheon, as part of an alliance between Houses Tyrell and Lannister.[7] After Joffrey chokes to death during their wedding feast in the Red Keep,[8] the Tyrells insist that Margaery wed Joffrey's younger brother, Prince Tommen Baratheon.[9] At the Fingers, Lord Petyr Baelish tells Sansa Stark that he had conspired with Margaery's grandmother, Lady Olenna Tyrell, to assassinate the volatile Joffrey so that Margaery can marry Joffrey's younger brother, Prince Tommen Baratheon.[3]

During Tyrion Lannister's trial for murder, Grand Maester Pycelle testifies that Joffrey was poisoned.[10] Tyrion, falsely convicted of killing Joffrey, murders Shae and his father, Lord Tywin Lannister, in the Tower of the Hand before disappearing from the city.[11]

Although Storm's End is held by Stannis's men, Mace refuses to depart King's Landing until Margaery weds King Tommen.[12] Tommen's mother, the increasingly-paranoid Queen Regent Cersei Lannister, prefers a betrothal and thinks the marriage should be delayed for a year or two. She reluctantly agrees to a wedding to avoid offending Highgarden, however.[1] The Tyrells insist against Cersei's wishes that Margaery and Tommen share a bed, with Cersei agreeing that they can do so for just the wedding night. Ser Jaime Lannister, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and the actual father of Joffrey and Tommen, explains to his sister Cersei that Margaery's cousins—Megga, Alla, and Elinor Tyrell—will be with the married youths that night, but Cersei orders Jaime to be in the room as well.[1]

Cersei wants Tommen to wear the red silk cloak which Joffrey had worn at his wedding, it was the same cloak which Cersei's father, Lord Tywin, had used when he married Joanna Lannister. Olenna objects to Tommen wearing the colors of House Lannister, however, and the boy king instead wears the heavy cloth-of-gold cloak worn by Robert when he married Cersei.[1]

Ceremony

Margaery Tyrell by Amok ©

While Joffrey had married Margaery in the Great Sept of Baelor,[8] Tommen's more modest wedding is held instead in the royal sept of the Red Keep and is attended by fewer than a hundred guests. Margaery wears sheer ivory silk, Myrish lace, and seed pearls, the same attire she wore for her wedding with Joffrey. Meanwhile, Cersei wears black in mourning for Joffrey. Tommen covers Margaery with Robert's gold and onyx garment during the changing of the cloaks.[1]

After the vows are complete, guests give congratulations to the royal couple and Cersei outside of the sept.[1]

Feast

The modest wedding feast, arranged by Margaery's mother Alerie, is held in the Small Hall of the Tower of the Hand.[1]

With Joffrey's poisoning in mind, Jaime has men stationed in the kitchens to watch as food for the feast is prepared. To prevent tampering, Ser Addam Marbrand has the City Watch of King's Landing escort servants as they bring the seven courses of food. Ser Boros Blount of the Kingsguard serves as King's Tommen tester of food, and Maester Ballabar is on hand for emergencies. Lannister spearmen are posted around the tower, and the Kingsguard, the only men allowed to carry swords during the feast, stand watch within the Small Hall.[1]

The fools Butterbumps and Moon Boy perform for the guests, musicians play their instruments, and the Blue Bard sings a few love songs. Lord Tyrell leads a toast to Tommen and Margaery, and Lord Paxter Redwyne toasts Margaery and Cersei.[1]

A resentful Cersei drinks several cups of wine, and she panics when Tommen coughs on his own wine. When Cersei retires briefly to a back passage of the hall, Lady Taena Merryweather claims to the Queen Regent that her maid, Senelle, has been spying on her for Margaery and relaying messages through the younger queen's cousins, Megga, Alla, and Elinor Tyrell.[1]

Tommen and Margaery begin the dancing for the evening. While Margaery's cousins dance with the boy king, the young queen dances with her father, Lord Mace, and brother, Ser Loras Tyrell of the Kingsguard. Cersei, however, refuses offers to dance from Jaime, Mace, and her cousin, Ser Lancel Lannister. Margaery dances with Alla, Megga dances with Ser Tallad the Tall, and Elinor drinks wine with Aurane Waters.[1]

Wildfire

A cache of wildfire, by Jonny Klei. © Fantasy Flight Games

Unbeknownst to the wedding guests, Cersei has had fifty pots of wildfire from the Alchemists' Guild, logs and casks of pitch, and the possessions of her hated brother, the missing Tyrion, placed in the Tower of the Hand. Interrupting the feast, an intoxicated Cersei has the attendees accompany her outside to the outer ward of the Red Keep. Acting on the Queen Regent's orders, Lord Hallyne of the alchemists has archers fire flaming arrows into the Tower of the Hand, igniting the wildfire within.[1]

The surprised guests watch the Tower of the Hand burns, with some knights betting on how long it will take to collapse. Cersei has Jaime escort Tommen and Margaery to their pillows, and she remains behind with Ser Osmund Kettleblack to watch the wildfire burn.[1]

Aftermath

Lord Tyrell departs King's Landing to besiege Storm's End,[1][13] his mother Olenna returns to Highgarden,[1] and his son, Ser Garlan Tyrell, marches to claim Brightwater Keep.[1] Ser Kevan Lannister travels to Darry to see his son Lancel wed to Amerei Frey.[1] Jaime leads a host to bring order to the riverlands, including Riverrun.[14]

Lady Merryweather becomes Cersei's confidant.[13] The Queen Regent plots against Queen Margaery, eventually having her accused of adultery.[15]

Attendees

Royal House

From the crownlands

From the Reach

From the westerlands

Performers

Other attendees

Quotes

Lady Olenna was not about to let Joff harm her precious darling granddaughter, but unlike her son she also realized that under all his flowers and finery, Ser Loras is as hot-tempered as Jaime Lannister. Toss Joffrey, Margaery, and Loras in a pot, and you've got the makings for kingslayer stew. The old woman understood something else as well. Her son was determined to make Margaery a queen, and for that he needed a king ... but he did not need Joffrey. We shall have another wedding soon, wait and see. Margaery will marry Tommen. She'll keep her queenly crown and her maidenhead, neither of which she especially wants, but what does that matter? The great western alliance will be preserved ... for a time, at least.[3]

—Petyr Baelish to Sansa Stark

Cersei: Storm's End? Yes, but ... Lord Tyrell has made it tediously plain that he will not leave King's Landing till Tommen marries Margaery.
Jaime: Then let them wed. It will be years before Tommen is old enough to consummate the marriage. And until he does, the union can always be set aside.[12]

—Cersei Lannister and Jaime Lannister

The bride was fair and gay and beautiful, the groom still baby-faced and plump. He recited his vows in a high, childish voice, promising his love and devotion to Mace Tyrell's twice-widowed daughter.[1]

—thoughts of Cersei Lannister

Cersei: My belly is such a knot that I cannot eat. The wine tastes of bile. This wedding was a mistake."

Jaime: This wedding was necessary. The boy is safe.

Cersei: Fool. No one who wears a crown is ever safe.[1]

—Cersei Lannister and Jaime Lannister

Lords and ladies, if you will be so good as to come outside with me, we shall light a candle to celebrate the union of Highgarden and Casterly Rock, and a new age of peace and plenty for our Seven Kingdoms.[1]

—Cersei Lannister to the attendees

Jaime knew the look in his sister's eyes. He had seen it before, most recently on the night of Tommen's wedding, when she burned the Tower of the Hand. The green light of the wildfire had bathed the face of the watchers, so they looked like nothing so much as rotting corpses, a pack of gleeful ghouls, but some of the corpses were prettier than others. Even in the baleful glow, Cersei had been beautiful to look upon. She'd stood with one hand on her breast, her lips parted, her green eyes shining. She is crying, Jaime had realized, but whether it was from grief or ecstasy he could not have said.[16]

—thoughts of Jaime Lannister

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 12, Cersei III.
  2. ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 69, Tyrion IX.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 68, Sansa VI.
  4. ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 6, Sansa I.
  5. ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 33, Catelyn IV.
  6. ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 62, Sansa VII.
  7. ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 65, Sansa VIII.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 60, Tyrion VIII.
  9. ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 67, Jaime VIII.
  10. ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 66, Tyrion IX.
  11. ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 77, Tyrion XI.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 8, Jaime I.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 A Feast for Crows, Chapter 17, Cersei IV.
  14. ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 27, Jaime III.
  15. ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 43, Cersei X.
  16. ↑ A Feast for Crows, Chapter 16, Jaime II.
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