Margaery Tyrell

"- Do you want to be a queen? - No...I want to be the Queen."

- Petyr Baelish and Margaery Tyrell

Margaery Tyrell is a major character in the second season. She is played by Natalie Dormer and debuts in "What is Dead May Never Die." Queen Margaery Tyrell is the widow of King Renly Baratheon, a claimant to the Iron Throne in the War of the Five Kings. Her father Lord Mace Tyrell is the ruler of the Reach. She is betrothed to King Joffrey Baratheon after the Battle of Blackwater.

Background
Margaery is the only daughter of Lady Alerie Tyrell and Lord Mace Tyrell, the High Marshal of the Reach. The Reach is one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms and House Tyrell is one of the Great Houses of the realm. Margaery was raised in privilege in the family seat and regional capital of Highgarden. She is close to her brother, Ser Loras Tyrell, the Knight of Flowers. She is said to be as beautiful as she is clever.

Season 2

 * Main: Margaery Tyrell Season 2

Margaery marries King Renly Baratheon, the lover of her brother Loras, though she's aware of their relationship. Two weeks afterward they have not yet consumated their marriage. Renly camps his army in the Stormlands, near his seat of Storm's End, and holds a tournament for his followers. Margaery is disappointed when Loras is defeated in the final bout by Brienne of Tarth. Catelyn Stark arrives to treat with Renly on behalf of her son Robb Stark and Margaery greets her warmly. Margaery encourages Renly to produce an heir with her but he is unable to become aroused by her. She is pragmatic about his desires and shocks him by offering to bring Loras into their bed.

King Joffrey Baratheon's Master of Coin Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish also visits the camp to treat with Renly. He makes a point of provoking Margaery about her husband's sexuality and she affirms her loyalty to Renly. Renly treats with his brother King Stannis Baratheon but is unable to reach a compromise. Renly is killed in mysterious circumstances and his Kingsguard Brienne of Tarth is blamed for his death. Margaery convinces Loras to flee the camp with her before Stannis arrives. Littlefinger accompanies them to Highgarden having gauged Margaery's ambition to become Queen.

Petyr sways House Tyrell into siding with House Lannister. As a result, House Lannister is victorious at the Battle of the Blackwater.

In a ceremony to celebrate victory, King Joffrey tells Loras he may ask anything of him in return for his aid. He asks Joffrey wed Margaery to cement the new alliance between their Houses through matrimony. Margaery states she has heard of Joffrey's courage and come to love from afar. Joffrey states that he has heard of Margaery's beauty and reciprocates her feelings but balks at setting aside his betrothal to Sansa Stark but is convinced by his courtiers that Sansa's family's status as attainted traitors is reason enough.

In the books
In A Song of Ice and Fire, Margaery is the unwed daughter of Mace Tyrell, one of the most powerful lords in Westeros. Margaery herself is considered to be not only very beautiful, but very intelligent despite her relatively young age. The Tyrells are a loving family, and Margaery has a good relationship with both her parents and her brother Loras. She also has a close relationship with her paternal grandmother, Olenna Redwyne, who has tutored Margaery in the skills of court intrigue.

Many Houses and eligible lords want to marry their sons to Margaery and gain an alliance with the formidable House Tyrell, but Mace has been holding out for the most favorable match possible.

Magaery is younger in the books, sixteen at the time of her marriage to Renly making her the same age as Robb Stark. However, Margaery has been further aged in the series, making her slightly older than Robb Stark, as Natalie Dormer is four years older than Richard Madden. The TV series producers enjoyed Dormer's audition so much that they decided to overlook this minor difference.

Margaery's true motivations are not discussed in the books, but the TV series makes her ambitions clear to the audience. This is largely due to the narrative mechanics: Margaery is not a POV character in the books (neither is Renly or Loras), and the scenes at King Renly's army camp are told from Catelyn's point of view - logically, she doesn't see the inside of Renly's tent nor is she privy to Margaery's actions. The TV series has the freedom to expand on the stories of non-POV characters, hence the apparent expansion of Margaery's character. Thus Margaery in the TV series is faithful to Margaery's actions and behavior in the books, it's just that the TV series actually depicts events which occurred "off screen" in the books.

The book Game of Thrones features a small subplot hinting that Renly Baratheon was working as an agent to the Tyrells' rising power by trying to bring Margaery to King's Landing. He shows her picture to Ned Stark and asks if resembles Lyanna Stark, hoping that such a resemblance will convince Robert to lay Cersei aside and make Margaery Queen. A slightly bemused Ned insists that Margaery and Lyanna look nothing alike.