Euron Greyjoy

"I am the Drowned God. From Oldtown to Qarth, when men see my sails, they pray. [...] I am the storm, brother. The first storm, and the last. And you're in my way."

- Euron Greyjoy.

King Euron Greyjoy is a recurring character in the sixth season who was previously alluded to in the first season. He is portrayed by Pilou Asbæk, and debuts in “Home”. Euron is the younger brother of King Balon Greyjoy, and the eldest uncle of Theon and Yara Greyjoy.

Background
Euron Greyjoy is the younger brother of Balon Greyjoy, head of House Greyjoy, Lord Reaper of Pyke and King of the Iron Islands.

At the outset of the Greyjoy Rebellion, Euron orchestrated the daring Raid on Lannisport which burned Tywin Lannister's entire fleet at anchor. This gave the ironborn command of the western seas and coasts of Westeros for a time.

Euron has spent the last few years as a pirate, reaving from Oldtown to Qarth and beyond. He once lost his senses during a storm while sailing on the Jade Sea, and his crew was forced to tie him to the mast to prevent him from jumping overboard. When he was let down after the storm, he had all their tongues ripped out. Euron later glibly remarked of the incident that "I needed silence".

Season 1
Tyrion Lannister tells Theon about his memories of witnessing the Raid on Lannisport which Tyrion says was caused by Theon's uncles.

Season 6
Euron returns to the Iron Islands following the War of the Five Kings, arriving during a violent storm. He confronts Balon on a rope bridge between two of Pyke's towers, as it is buffeted by the wind and rain. Balon says he assumed Euron would be dead by now, rotting under some foreign sea. Euron sarcastically replies with the traditional ironborn words, "what is dead may never die", and chides Balon when he doesn't repeat the phrase. Balon accuses him of mocking the Drowned God, which Euron retorts by boasting that he is the Drowned God: for from Oldtown to Qarth, whenever men see his sails they pray. The strong wind batters the bridge, making Balon have to hold onto the support ropes, but with eerie calmness Euron stands perfectly still with his hands together in front of him, unafraid. Smirking, Euron notes that his brother is old, and says it is time for him to move aside and let another rule.

Balon draws closer, and says he heard that Euron lost his mind during a storm on the Jade Sea, and the crew had to tie him to the mast to stop him from jumping overboard. Euron smiles and matter-of-factually acknowledges "they did". Balon then accuses him by asking what kind of an ironborn loses his senses during a storm, to which Euron firmly says that he is "the storm" - the first storm, and the last - and Balon is in his way. Realizing that Euron has come to kill him, Balon attacks him with a knife, slashing his left cheek, but Euron easily overpowers his elder brother, and throws him off the bridge to his death.

Following his nephew Theon's endorsement of his niece Yara, Euron arrives at the kingsmoot, announcing his name and his decision to claim the Salt Throne. At first, he greets Theon and Yara cordially, but then he begins to mock them, telling Theon he "fucked things right into the ground", and pointing out that he is a eunuch. Euron reveals that he returned only a few days ago, leading Yara to realize he is Balon's killer. She accuses him of the murder, and he freely admits it in front of the other ironborn captains, claiming that Balon only ever led the ironborn into two wars they could not hope to win, and apologizes to the captains for not returning to kill him sooner, a sentiment which they nod and murmur at. Theon says that Yara should be queen because while Euron was raiding across the Known World, she was leading the ironborn and planning to return the Iron Islands to their former glory, by building the largest fleet the world has ever seen. Euron counters that in his travels, he has seen more of the world than the rest of the captains combined, and that he knows Daenerys Targaryen, who owns three large dragons, hates the lords of Westeros as much as the ironborn, and has no husband or ships. He intends to sail to Slaver's Bay, bring her back to Westeros, and conquer the Seven Kingdoms with her help. The captains all declare for him when he announces that he paid the iron price for his crown.

To consecrate his faith to the Drowned God, Aeron Greyjoy drowns Euron in the sea, reciting a prayer as he does so. When Euron stops breathing, he is dragged back ashore where, after a few tense seconds, he awakens, coughing and spitting water. Aeron places a driftwood crown on his head, making him King of the Iron Islands. He, Aeron, and the captains seek out Theon and Yara with the intention of murdering them, but find they have fled aboard all of the Islands' best ships. Euron declares that this will not save them, and orders everyone to chop down every tree they come across, to build a thousand ships to conquer Westeros.

Behind the Scenes

 * Although in the novels Euron is the eldest of Balon Greyjoy's younger brothers, Pilou Asbæk is actually 36 years younger than Michael Feast, who plays Aeron Greyjoy, the youngest of Balon's brothers in the books. Asbæk is also only four years older than Alfie Allen, who plays Euron's nephew Theon (though in the story there are numerous examples of younger uncles who are simply many years younger than their siblings). It is possible that in the TV version Euron and Aeron's ages were simply swapped. Even in the novels, however, when Euron returns to the Iron Island it is said that he looks unchanged despite the years he was away, almost unnaturally - hinting that he has been using dark magic to slow his aging (see below).
 * A picture of Euron from the episode "Home" implies that he attended Balon's funeral, but his scenes were cut.
 * In the books, Euron wears a patch over his left eye, for which he is nicknamed "Crow's Eye", though it is unclear what he hides beneath the patch. According to Theon it is a black eye "shining with malice", whereas his right eye is blue. The TV version simply omitted the eyepatch and he has both eyes. Actor Pilou Asbæk (Euron) responded to reactions about this change the week after he first appeared in "Home" via his Twitter account, explaining:


 * "I am sorry, but with all the killing Euron has to do, he needs both eyes."

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Euron is a wildly unpredictable and cruel man, known for his delight in playing vicious mind games and waging psychological war on those around him. He is hated by all his brothers, particularly Victarion. Even many of the other ironborn greatly fear Euron, and consider him to be half-insane - not so much in the sense of being impulsive (like Joffrey Baratheon or Ramsay Bolton), but in that he seems almost delusional, with an utterly fearless, warped personality.

Unlike many ironborn (including Balon), Euron is a cunning strategist skilled at both politics and military tactics. It was Euron who came up with the battle plan for the surprise Raid on Lannisport during the Greyjoy Rebellion, which burned Tywin Lannister's entire fleet at anchor before it could respond to the ironborn's declaration of independence. Victarion commanded the actual assault itself, following Euron's plan.

He is captain of the ship Silence, crewed entirely by mutes - to keep the crew from revealing any of his secrets, Euron personally ripped the tongues out of each of their mouths.

Euron has never been married. He has several bastard children but does not have any regard for any of them, none were officially acknowledged, and none have been introduced as named characters in the narrative. It is mentioned in passing that he brought three bastard sons to present to the Kingsmoot: only one is briefly described, a ten year old boy with woolly hair and mud-brown skin, apparently fathered on a woman from Sothoryos or the Summer Islands. Euron bluntly says that he gives as much thought to the bastards he has produced as to the contents he produces in his chamber pot.

About three years before the Red Wedding (about one year before the first novel), Euron raped and impregnated Victarion's third wife, which drove Victarion to beat her to death in an honor killing, so he would not be put to shame as a cuckold. Euron flippantly claimed that it was not rape and he in fact seduced Victarion's wife willingly, but due to Euron's pervasive lying and mind games he may have just said this to mock his brother. Victarion would have killed Euron too, but Balon forbade it, though only because he would not have the taboo of kinslaying in his own halls. Balon still sympathized with Victarion and renounced Euron as his brother. As punishment, Balon exiled Euron from the Iron Islands, never to return, so he is not present when Theon returns to Pyke in the second novel. Victarion still deeply hates Euron and wishes him dead. After being banished from the Iron Islands, Euron sailed his ship far to the east raiding and plundering as an infamous pirate, and became the terror of the world's oceans. He claims to have sailed to the far corners of the known world where other men fear to venture: having already destroyed Tywin Lannister's fleet in the northwest of the Sunset Sea, he sailed to distant Asshai on the Jade Sea and plundered that strange city's shadowbinders, and he paid the iron price to seize a fortune's worth of spices from the harbors of Yi Ti; he sailed the Shivering Sea to the frozen isle of Ibben north of Essos, where he wrestled the hairy whaling-folk to steal their booty; in the Narrow Sea, he raided the ships of all the Free Cities (Braavos, Pentos, and Volantis alike); he reaved around the Summer Islands in the Summer Sea, taking their comeliest women as his concubines; he braved the dangers of the Smoking Sea, which even other pirates fear; and he even dared walk the allegedly demon-haunted ruins of Old Valyria searching for lost treasures. He also raided around Qarth, and while many men dread the Warlocks of that city, Euron attacked and captured several of them, and tortured them into teaching him much in the ways of black magic. He captured four warlocks at first, but when one dared threaten Euron, he killed him and fed his flesh to the other three, starving them until they were desperate enough to eat it (after that they were more pliable to his commands). While in the east Euron also picked up the habit of drinking shade of the evening from the warlocks of Qarth, and as with the warlocks the potion has stained his lips blue.

Euron is the eldest of Balon's three younger brothers - yet it is noted within the narrative that when he returns to the Iron Islands he appears almost unnaturally young. Victarion is Euron's younger brother, but while Victarion is old enough that his hair is flecked with grey, Euron's is still as black as night. Victarion's first thoughts upon seeing Euron again are: "He looks unchanged. He looks the same as he did the day he laughed at me and left." Victarion has apparently been cut from the TV series, but the HBO Viewer's Guide family tree still lists Euron as older than Aeron Greyjoy - despite the fact that TV-Aeron is presented as an older priest with greying hair. Thus it might be a plot point even in the TV show that Euron's appearance hasn't changed - possibly due to the dark arts he learned in his voyages.

Euron's actions also made him very unpopular with the Drowned Men priests, who deride him as an "ungodly" man. There aren't many things that the Drowned God religion won't stand for - given that it considers raiding and pillaging to be holy acts - but raping your own brother's wife is one of them (even if just a salt wife). Euron is also very flippant about the Drowned God and ironborn traditions in general, further earning him the ire of the priests.

In A Feast for Crows, Euron makes a surprise return to the Iron Islands - the very next day after his older brother Balon's mysterious death. As his arrival appears to coincide with Balon's fall from the bridge, many suspect that Euron killed Balon. Balon's daughter Asha (named Yara in the TV series) openly accuses him of murdering her father, but it cannot be proven. Euron is so brazen that he doesn't really care how suspicious it appeared to return immediately after his brother's death and then claim his throne. In the novels it is heavily implied that Euron hired one of the Faceless Men to throw Balon off a rope bridge at Pyke - the TV series has Euron do it personally, allowing for a face to face confrontation between them.

"Euron" is pronounced "Your-on".

While the Kingsmoot in A Feast for Crows also ends in Euron's victory, it occurs under considerably different circumstances. In A Clash of Kings, Euron sails into Pyke and claims the Seastone Chair one day after Balon's death. In response, Aeron contests Euron's claim to the throne by calling a Kingsmoot. Instead of a two-horse race between him and Yara, Euron has to contend with several other candidates including his estranged younger brother Victarion; who is older than Aeron. Like the TV series, Euron is the last to present his candidacy and manages to woo the Ironborn by having one of his men, Cragorn, blow the Dragonbinder. In the novel, his Kingsmoot speech does not mention Daenerys but instead refers to her dragons. Unlike the TV series, Aeron does not crown Euron with the driftwood crown but goes into hiding. Instead, his other brother Victarion pledges his allegiance to Euron and becomes his second-in-command. In the novel, Euron dispatches Victarion to travel to Essos and bring back his bride Daenerys since he is preoccupied with leading an Ironborn invasion of the Reach.