War of the Five Kings

Once he'd recovered and gathered back his khalasar, he would surely have carried on with that.

A Dothraki invasion in the middle of the War of the Five Kings would have been something indeed.

And if Rhaego had lived, what would he have become? The all-conquering Stallion Who Mounts the World? We should never truly trust prophecies in the world of Ice and Fire, but true prophecies are definitely real, so perhaps.

But most importantly of all, the lesson Mirri Maz Duur tried to teach Dany was not the lesson she learned.

Diego calls it the kind of dark fantasy masterpiece that only comes around once in a generation.

It details the brutal climax of the War of the Five Kings in Westeros.

It's massive.

Diego points out how perfectly this huge book functions as the pivot point for the entire series.

That is subject to change, however.

The Freys are widely reviled now in Westeros, thanks to the Red Wedding, and by the fandom for that same reason, among others, but they were quite unpopular in Westeros prior to the start of the War of the Five Kings, let alone the Red Wedding.

The nobility tend to give extra respect and weight to the oldest of families, some of whom go back 8,000 to 10,000 years or more, or at least they claim to.

Regardless, the reverse is true as well.

What was Tywin Lannister's masterplan, from when he took over the Lannister Lordship to the start of the War of the Five Kings? Let's take a look.

Hi everyone, this is Robert.

Welcome to In Deep Geek.

It would take too long to list all of the battles and wars the two houses then found themselves on opposite sides of, but it's a lot.

The resistance against House Hoare of the Iron Islands, the Dance of the Dragons, the Blackfire Rebellion, the War of the Five Kings, and so on.

Perhaps sometimes they were genuinely supportive of different causes, but often their old enmity was what led them to picking sides opposing each other.

If the Brackens wanted one thing, the Blackwoods would oppose it, and vice versa.

Or perhaps it was only his rivalry with his half-brother and fellow bastard, Brynden Rivers, who had been able to maintain his close relations at court, for Bloodraven's mother had been well loved during her life and was fondly remembered, so the Blackwoods did not suffer as the Brackens did when the King cast off his respective mistresses.

And though this is written clearly in a sympathetic way to the Blackwoods, it's pretty clear that the brother that I hated that Bloodraven mentions to Bran is Bittersteel, so the antipathy ran both ways.

Bringing the story up to date, the Brackens and Blackwoods of course find themselves on opposing sides in the War of the Five Kings, with at the present moment the Brackens having the upper hand.

The Blackwoods have been forced to cede some land to the Brackens and so on, though Lord Titus Blackwood is very clear that though he doesn't mind people thinking he bent the knee to the King, he would never bend the knee to the Brackens.

And it's just like, why does Doran Martell think that That this pact is going to be worth that for her.

I mean, like, you know, yes, I will grant you Dorne has managed to stay out of the current War of the Five Kings, so their armies have not taken as hard a hit.

But I think they are the smallest standing army in the Seven Kingdoms, if I remember correctly, or one of the smallest.

So it's just like, it's not the...

Tycho Nestoris, one of their senior envoys, took a boat up from Braavos to the Wall, seeking an audience with Stannis.

After the deaths of Robb, Renly, and Balon Greyjoy, as well as Joffrey, of course, Stannis is the last man standing in the War of the Five Kings.

And as Young Griff's invasion was yet to happen, Stannis is seemingly the only possible candidate to challenge the Lannisters.

Of course, Stannis was low on coin and soldiers, but the Iron Bank could help with that if he were interested.

Robert's so-called heirs, Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella do not have a single drop of Baratheon blood.

And the moment Robert dies, that secret inevitably surfaces, instantly plunging the continent into the War of the Five Kings.

Just chaos again.

Right.