House Tyrell



House Tyrell is one of the Great Houses of Westeros. It rules over the Reach, a vast, fertile and heavily-populated region of south-western Westeros, from the castle at Highgarden. It is currently led by Lord Mace Tyrell. His third son Loras is a noted tournament knight and the lover of Lord Renly Baratheon.

The Tyrell sigil is a golden rose on a green field. Their motto is, "Growing Strong".

Background
House Tyrell rose to prominence as one of the strongest noble houses in the Reach. The Tyrells became senior servants of House Gardener, the Kings of the Reach. They served them for centuries and even intermarried with the royal house. When King Mern IX was slain on the Field of Fire by Aegon the Conqueror, his steward Harlen Tyrell surrendered Highgarden and the Reach. Aegon rewarded Harlen by making him Lord of Higharden and overlord of the Reach.

During Robert's Rebellion, House Tyrell remained loyal to the Mad King. However, the vast army and resources of House Tyrell was wasted on a siege of Storm's End (held for Robert by his brother, Stannis Baratheon). After the Mad King's death, the Tyrells surrendered and swore fealty to Robert Baratheon.

Military strength
The Reach is the most fertile and populous region of Westeros, allowing House Tyrell to gain immense wealth (through taxation of the large population) and also to muster an enormous army. The Tyrells can typically raise and equip almost twice as many soldiers as any other House in Westeros.

Season 1
Ser Loras Tyrell suggests to his lover, Renly Baratheon, that the Tyrells would support a claim for the Iron Throne made by Renly with all of their formidable military and economic might. Renly is initially reluctant to make such a claim. However, when Eddard Stark spurns his aid, Renly flees King's Landing by night with Loras. He is crowned King in Highgarden and lays claim to the Iron Throne.

Season 2
The Tyrells and Renly have raised an army of 100,000 men to support Renly's claim to the throne, outnumbering any of the other claimants' armies by a significant number. Robb Stark sends his mother to treat with Renly and seek an alliance against the Lannisters. To cement his new alliance with House Tyrell, Renly marries Lord Mace's only daughter, Loras' sister Margaery Tyrell. Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish then arrives at Renly's camp as an envoy from King Joffrey. While in camp, he engages Margaery in conversation, alluding to the fact that Renly is actually a homosexual, trying to lure her allegiance (and that of House Tyrell) away from Renly. To Baelish's surprise, he finds that Margaery is unintimidated by him or his court intrigues. Baelish also did not anticipate that, as it turns out, Margaery is fully aware that Renly is in a homosexual relationship with her own brother Loras, but she does not care. Margaery honestly believed that supporting Renly's claim to the kingship was in the best interests of House Tyrell, so she agreed to the paper marriage. Indeed, she actively supported the idea. However, in private, Margaery also shrewdly explains to Renly that he has to impregnate her, as the best way to truly cement the alliance between their two Houses is if "you put your baby in my belly."

King Renly is then assassinated in his tent under mysterious circumstances. As Ser Loras stands vigil over his body, Margaery urges him that it is not safe and they must return with their army to Highgarden. Littlefinger then arrives in the tent, and while Loras is angry with him and overcome with grief, Littlefinger calmly explains to him that Stannis' army will arrive within the hour, and when they do, the Tyrell's former allies in the Stormlands will fight each other over who gets to hand Loras and Margaery over to Stannis as prisoners. Margaery agrees with the sense of what Littlefinger is saying, and that if they have any hope of getting revenge on Stannis for Renly's death (which they accurately suspect he was responsible for) they must live to fight another day. After Loras leaves, Baelish tries to assess the position of Margaery and of House Tyrell. Noting her marriage to Renly, he asks Margaery if she wants to be a queen. Margaery cooly responds that she wants to be "the queen", much to the pleasure of Baelish.

Littlefinger travels to Harrenhal to propose to Lord Tywin Lannister that they should seize Renly's untimely demise as an opportunity to forge a new alliance between House Lannister and House Tyrell. With House Tyrell on their side, the large armies and resources of the Reach will support King Joffrey's faction in the war. Tywin feels that trying to woo the Tyrells to their allegiance is the obvious course of action, criticizing Baelish for acting like he's the only person who could thought of that, but nonetheless he sends him to try to broke the alliance with House Tyrell

Littlefinger is successful in negotiating with the Tyrells, and the allied forces arrive in time to achieve a decisive victory against Stannis at the Battle of the Blackwater. Just as Stannis' forces were turning the tide and about to take the city, the Lannister army led by Tywin and the large Tyrell army led by Loras arrived from the Riverlands and the Reach, and caught Stannis' army in the flank. Stannis' army was almost completely destroyed, though Stannis himself managed to escape with a small fraction of his men.

To formalize the new alliance between House Lannister and House Tyrell, King Joffrey agrees to be betrothed to marry Margaery Tyrell, who subsequently takes place at court. The marriage will be finalized once the war is over.

Members

 * Lord {Luthor Tyrell}, deceased.
 * Lady Olenna of House Redwyne, Luthor's widow, known as the Queen of Thorns, Mace Tyrell's mother.
 * Lord Mace Tyrell, Lord of Highgarden, Lord Parmount of the Reach and Warden of the South, the head of the family.
 * His wife, Lady Alerie of House Hightower.
 * His eldest son and heir, Ser Willas Tyrell.
 * His second son, Ser Garlan Tyrell, called Garlan the Gallant, noted for his valor and his skill with a sword.
 * His third son, Ser Loras Tyrell, called the Knight of Flowers, noted for his youth, valor and his skill with a lance.
 * His daughter, Margaery Tyrell, young and beautiful, the widow of Renly Baratheon.

Sworn to House Tyrell

 * House Florent of Brightwater Keep.
 * House Hightower of Oldtown.
 * House Redwyne of the Arbor.
 * House Tarly of Horn Hill.

Vassals and allies

 * Lord Randyll Tarly

In the books
In the Song of Ice and Fire novels, House Tyrell is a powerful noble house. The Reach is the most populous region of the Seven Kingdoms and the Tyrells can field the largest army on the continent, although the Lannisters, being richer, can better-equip their troops. This makes the Tyrells formidable enemies but excellent allies.

Before King Aegon I Targaryen's invasion, the Tyrells were stewards to House Gardener, the Kings of the Reach. The Tyrells had responsibility for maintaining the castle of Highgarden, the seat of royal power in the Reach. In the battle known as the Field of Fire, King Mern IX Gardener and all of his issue were slaughtered by Aegon's dragons. Harlen Tyrell, King Mern's steward, surrendered Hightower to King Aegon and was rewarded with the title Lord of the Reach. House Florent of Brightwater Keep, which claims a superior blood-relationship to the Gardeners and the first King of the Reach, Garth Greenhand, has long disputed the suitability of the Tyrells to the title, since the Tyrell blood link to the Gardeners is only through the female line.

According to the TV series official pronunciation guide developed for the cast and crew, "Tyrell" is pronounced "TI-rul", as opposed to "Tie-rell", etc.

Members in the books
 * Lady Mina, Mace's older sister, now married into House Redwyne.
 * Lady Mina's children, Horas, Hobber and Desmera Redwyne.
 * Lady Janna, Mace's younger sister, married into House Fossoway.