Tommen Baratheon

"My father, maybe Joffrey was too much work for him. Sweet Tommen will be so much easier to handle."

- Tyrion Lannister

King Tommen Baratheon is a major character in the fifth and sixth seasons. He initially appeared as a recurring character in the first, second and fourth seasons. He is portrayed by starring cast member Dean-Charles Chapman, taking over the role (starting in Season 4) from Callum Wharry, who played the character briefly in Seasons 1 and 2. Tommen is the younger brother of King Joffrey and Princess Myrcella. Though legally the son of the late King Robert Baratheon and Queen Cersei Lannister, his true father is Ser Jaime Lannister, the Queen's twin brother. His sole biological grandparents, Tywin and Joanna Lannister, were also first cousins.

Background
Tommen is presented as the youngest son of King Robert Baratheon and Queen Cersei Lannister. Cersei and Robert made a political marriage alliance after Robert took the throne by force from the Mad King Aerys II Targaryen. Tommen's real father is Jaime Lannister, his mother's twin brother and his uncle. He has an older brother, Joffrey, and an older sister Myrcella with the same obfuscated parentage. Tommen is good-natured and passive in contrast to his brother Joffrey, who sometimes bullied Tommen for amusement. Like his sister, he is fond of his uncle Tyrion Lannister.

Season 1
Tommen accompanies his family north to Winterfell. Tommen is eating breakfast with his mother, father and sister as his uncle Tyrion approaches. He giggles as his uncle lifts him aside to join them. His sister asks whether Bran Stark will die and Tyrion replies that he is expected to live, much to Myrcella’s delight and Cersei’s horror. Tyrion goes on to say how he wishes to see the Wall and witness the “wintry abode of the white walkers,” exciting Myrcella and Tommen. He then says he wants to urinate off the edge of it, a comment which causes both his niece and nephew to laugh. Cersei is irritated by his words and leaves, calling the children to her.

Tommen attends the tournament to celebrate Eddard Stark becoming Hand of the King.

Season 2
"You sound like a little cat mewling for his mother. Princes don't cry."

- King Joffrey I berating Tommen

Tommen attends Joffrey's nameday tournament. He is pleased when his uncle Tyrion Lannister arrives during the festivities and tells him that one day he will be as big as the Hound "but much better looking". . Tommen attends a dinner with Myrcella, his mother and Sansa Stark. He asks whether Robb will be killed after the war, and says that he wouldn't like that.

Myrcella is sent to Dorne as part of a marriage pact with House Martell. Tommen watches her departure from the harbor, sobbing. Joffrey mocks him for crying, though Sansa stands up for him. As they return to the Red Keep, Tyrion senses the unrest of the smallfolk and orders Tommen sent along a separate route, narrowly avoiding the Riot of King's Landing. Tommen takes refuge in Maegor's Holdfast during the Battle of the Blackwater. Cersei takes him to the Iron Throne room when the battle seems lost. She tries to calm him with a tale about the supremacy of lions in the kingdom of beasts: the forest is full of vicious beasts, such as stags, wolves and dragons, but he is a lion, and all will bow to him. She has a vial of Essence of Nightshade from Grand Maester Pycelle, which is deadly if taken in more than tiny amounts and she prepares to give it to him if the city defenses fail, to grant him the mercy of a quick death instead of being captured and tormented. She is stopped just in time when Tywin Lannister arrives to announce their victory.

Season 4
Tommen is present at Joffrey's wedding ceremony to Margaery Tyrell, and during the subsequent feast. Initially, he laughed at his brother's crude play of dwarves reenacting the War of the Five Kings, but stopped after noticing the look on his uncle Tyrion's face. After Joffrey's poisoning and subsequent death, Tommen inherits the crown and is now the king and ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Tommen later stands vigil with Cersei over Joffrey's corpse in the Great Sept of Baelor. Tywin, in an unusually agreeable mood, enters and proceeds to quiz Tommen on the traits that make a good king, ignoring Cersei's protests and angry glares. Tommen suggests holiness, justice and strength as qualities of a good king, but Tywin refutes these answers by pointing out that Kings Baelor, Orys and Robert were each paragons of one of these qualities, but ultimately not very good kings. Tywin is delighted when Tommen, with minimal prompting, deduces that a good king must be wise. Tywin tells Tommen that young kings with no experience can become wise by listening to their councilors, and the wisest kings keep listening even when they don't need to anymore. After admitting that Joffrey was neither good nor wise, Tywin escorts Tommen out out of the Sept and begins teaching him the duties of a king's marriage. On their way out, Jaime passes them and asks how Tommen is doing; the young king replies that he is all right, and Jaime assures Tommen that he will not let him meet the same end as his brother. In response to Joffrey's death, Cersei insists that Tommen be placed under high guard, with at least four Kingsguard at his bedroom door at night, something Jaime finds a bit excessive. Tommen has been moved to Joffrey's bedchamber and has yet to redecorate; hence, he has difficulty sleeping with Joffrey's gruesome hunting trophies all around. That night Margaery sneaks into Tommen's chambers. She suggests that they get to know one another before their marriage, something nobles in Westeros don't usually do. Tommen is unnerved by her presence until his cat, Ser Pounce, jumps up and Margaery interacts with him. Tommen sullenly reveals the cruel things Joffrey threatened to do to Ser Pounce, and he and Margaery bond over their mutual relief that they are free of him. Tommen agrees that he'd like Margaery to visit him again. Margaery departs, but not before giving a kiss on the forehead. A ceremony is held in the Red Keep where the high septon officially crowns Tommen as king. Margaery watches from the side, and, when questioned by Cersei, notes that he sits as comfortably in the Iron Throne as if he were born to it. Cersei and Tywin later set the date of Tommen's wedding to Margaery immediately after the mourning period for Joffrey is over: a fortnight from the day of the coronation.

On Tywin's instructions, Tommen recuses himself from presiding over Tyrion's trial for Joffrey's murder, declaring Tywin, as Hand of the King and Protector of the Realm, as his replacement. He then departs the throne room along with two Kingsguard.

Season 5
During the wake of his grandfather, Tommen is approached by Margaery, who shares a few close words with the king and holds his hand briefly. All of this is observed by Cersei from afar.

Claiming to be acting under Tommen's orders, Cersei convenes a meeting of the Small Council, declaring that Tommen has decided to wait until he's older to appoint his own Hand of the King. She also invokes Tommen's name in appointing Mace Tyrell the new Master of Coin as well as the Master of Ships, in promoting Qyburn to Master of Whisperers, and in offering Kevan Lannister the new position of Master of War. Kevan calls Cersei out however, and refuses to serve unless Tommen himself asks him to. Tommen and Margaery are finally married, to much fanfare. They waste little time in consummating the marriage, although it seems to go rather quickly. Tommen muses that his mother doesn't like King's Landing, and Margaery subtly implies that Cersei will continue acting like a mother lioness around Tommen in spite of the fact that he's reached his majority and is now married. The following morning, Tommen walks with his mother on the battlements and suggests that she might go back to Casterly Rock, since she's always described it as home. Cersei denies this, saying that King's Landing is her home. When Cersei later talks to Margaery, she finds the younger queen bragging about Tommen's libido, which she says is to be expected, given that he's both a lion and a stag. After Margaery's brother, Loras Tyrell, is arrested by the Faith Militant for his homosexuality, Tommen is confronted by an angry Margaery, who tells him that Cersei was most likely behind this to separate them. Tommen confronts his mother and demands that Loras be released, but she calmly tells him that she did not give the order, but it was the High Sparrow, although Tommen still blames Cersei for giving the High Sparrow an army in the first place. Tommen later goes to the Sept of Baelor to try and speak with the High Sparrow, but the Sparrows block his way. His Kingsguard offer to fight their way through the crowd to get inside, but Tommen refuses, even when the common folk begin to insult him as a "bastard" and an "abomination". He later regretfully tells his wife that he was unsuccessful. Tommen is present when Margaery gets arrested, though he is too stunned to do anything, despite Margaery's desperate pleas. Later, he voices his frustration and his plans to attack the Sept of Baelor in front of his mother, who manipulates him into letting her handle the situation. When this eventually leads to her capture by the Sparrows, however, Tommen loses his appetite and falls into depression, refusing to eat and staying in his chambers, receiving no one.

Season 6
Worried that his mother would be rearrested should she set foot in the Great Sept of Baelor for his sister's wake, Tommen has Cersei confined within the Red Keep for her perceived safety, to her unseen anger. When confronted by his uncle, Tommen told him that he felt his mother was somehow responsible for Prince Trystane's murder, but was no longer upset with her, despite knowing she re-armed the Faith Militant. Jaime chastised his nephew for this very action; himself irate over his sister not being able to see her daughter in the Sept. Right before encountering the High Sparrow, Jaime tells Tommen to head to the Red Keep and apologize to Cersei, which he does soon after. Upon seeing his mother, Tommen tearfully apologized for his earlier command and wished he was tougher in order to deal with those that would wrong him; especially in light of his earlier humiliation when he failed to force the Faith Militant to release his brother-in-law as well as his inability to fight for his queen upon her arrest. Cersei readily accepted his apology and offered her son help in gaining his desired power and effectiveness.

Later, Tommen and his Kingsguard visit the High Sparrow to seek permission for his mother Cersei to visit Myrcella's crypt at the Great Sept of Baelor. The High Sparrow denies Tommen's request on the grounds that his mother has not been cleared of the other crimes, namely killing King Robert Baratheon and incest. Tommen criticizes the Sparrow for his harsh treatment of Cersei when she has already atoned for her other two crimes: falsehood and fornication. In response, the High Sparrow compliments Tommen for his deep love to his mother, which he attributes to The Mother, one of the seven manifestations of The Seven. When Tommen questions why the Sparrow wants to punish his mother, the latter replies that he is merely carrying out the will of The Seven. The High Sparrow urges Tommen to turn to The Seven for wisdom. Before Tommen leaves, he tells the King that the Seven have worked through his grandfather and mother even though they may not have acknowledged it.

Quotes

 * Spoken by Tommen

"Wisdom. Wisdom is what makes a good king."

- Tommen to his grandfather, Tywin Lannister

"You sound like a little cat mewling for his mother. Princes don't cry."
 * Spoken about Tommen

- King Joffrey Baratheon berating his younger brother Tommen.

Recasting
The role of Tommen was recast in Season 4 with actor Dean-Charles Chapman, who previously played Martyn Lannister in Season 3 - who was actually Tommen's first cousin. In an interview with the Game of Owns podcast two weeks after "Oathkeeper" aired, writer Bryan Cogman stated that Tommen was recast in Season 4 because he becomes the new king, which meant a lot more heavy acting rested on the character, so they wanted a more experienced actor. He also confirmed that they did not cast Dean-Charles Chapman as Tommen's first cousin Martyn Lannister in Season 3 to somehow set him up as the new, older Tommen (Martyn and Tommen are related, so logically, an older Tommen might resemble his older cousin). Rather, Chapman was cast simply to play Martyn in Season 3, and after Martyn was killed Chapman thought his time working on the TV series was over. Chapman was only called back to the TV series after the production team had decided to recast Tommen in Season 4 (it isn't clear if he had to audition or was hand-picked).:

Chapman's natural speaking voice actually has an Essex accent: the Received Pronunciation accent he adopts to play Tommen is a conscious part of his performance.

Tommen's age in the TV continuity

 * Tommen is actually 7 years old at the beginning of the novels, and only 9 years old at the point in the narrative when he marries Margaery - the same age as Bran Stark. Most child characters such as Arya or Sansa were aged up by 2 years in the TV continuity, though others were not: Bran states that he is 10 years old in Season 1, and Joffrey is four years older than his book counterpart.
 * Back in Season 1, Loras stated on-screen that Tommen is only eight years old. Four years pass by Season 5, which by this original number would make him only 12 on his wedding night - but when Tommen was recast for Season 4 with an older actor, his age was apparently retconned so that he is around 18 years old in Season 5. Other than retconning this one specific line from Season 1, however, it was indeed possible to increase Tommen's age to around 18 without violating internal story logic (Tommen can't be older than Joffrey would have been).
 * Tommen's older brother Joffrey was aged-up in the TV series by 4 years, not only 2 years, to make him 16 years old in Season 1, instead of 12 years old as in the first novel (actor Jack Gleeson was actually 18 years old in Season 1; they cast an older and more experienced actor due to the narrative weight the role needed to carry). Four years have passed in-universe since Season 1, meaning Joffrey would have been around 20 years old in Season 5.
 * Tommen is the third of Cersei's children, meaning she had to have two nine month long pregnancies after giving birth to Joffrey - one for Myrcella, then one for Tommen. Therefore, Tommen can be physically no more than 18 years old in Season 5, without the TV series contradicting its own internal chronology.
 * Tommen was originally played by Callum Wharry in Seasons 1 and 2, an actor around the same age as Bran's actor, in the range of 9 to 10 years old. However, the role of Tommen was recast in Season 4 with Dean-Charles Chapman, who was about three years older than then previous actor. Chapman turned 17 during filming on Season 5, but that doesn't necessarily reflect the age of the character he is portraying (within a year or so). By placing his birth as early as physically possible, Tommen's age could indeed be increased to about 18 in Season 5 without outright contradicting the established chronology. It is to be retroactively understood that he was closer to 14 years old back in Season 1, as if the older actor Chapman had been playing him at the time (though Tommen did not appear very prominently in the first two seasons anyway - to the point that he did not have a single speaking line in Season 1).
 * There have been a few instances in which a child from the books was made a young adult in the TV series: Missandei is only 10 years old in the novels, and Podrick Payne is roughly the same age as Sansa Stark, making him only about 13 years old during the third novel (meaning he wasn't old enough to have sex with prostitutes as his TV counterpart did in Season 3).
 * The legal age of adulthood in Westeros is 16 - in the novels, though Samwell Tarly's comments in Season 1 implied that in the TV version it was changed to 18. Also consider that Robb Stark was around 16 years old in Season 1 (14 in the novels), but married Talisa at the end of Season 2 when he was himself also only around 17-18 (16 in the novels). In the TV version, Tommen might actually be a few months older at this point than Robb Stark was when he married Talisa.
 * A further point of evidence that Tommen is not 12 in Season 5, but closer to 17-18, is that he doesn't have a Regent. If Tommen was under the legal age of majority in Westeros (16 in the novels, but possibly increased to 18 in the TV continuity) he would by definition need to have a regent to rule in his name. In the novels, following the deaths in rapid succession of Joffrey and then Tywin, Cersei becomes the Queen Regent for Tommen, as she was regent for Joffrey, because both of them were underaged when they came to the throne. In contrast, during Season 5 it is repeatedly said that Cersei is only the Queen Mother, not the Queen Regent. Kevan explicitly points this out at the Small Council meeting in "The House of Black and White", when he said that Cersei is the Queen Mother, nothing more, and in this context he surely would have mentioned if she was regent again for an underraged son. A regent would have the right to appoint new Small Council members. After her wedding night, Margaery mockingly asks what title to refer to Cersei by, suggesting Queen Mother - not "Queen Regent". Even if the legal age of majority was increased to 18 in the TV continuity, Tommen might still be 17 or so - there were several historical examples (such as Daeron I Targaryen) when a new king was a year or two short of the age of majority, but he was close enough that this was ignored and no one insisted that a regent be appointed. This only extends so far, however: if Tommen were 12 and a full six years under the age of majority, the council would insist on naming a regent.
 * However, Joffrey ascended to the throne at the age of 12, without needing a regent to act on his behalf - which as a result, means that a king doesn't necessarily have to be a legal adult to act as king - meaning Tommen could still feasibly be a minor in the TV series.
 * As a result of all of this, the 9 year old Tommen in the books has not yet consummated his marriage to Margaery Tyrell - though as with when Podrick had sex in Season 3, the Tommen in the TV continuity is simply older than his book counterpart.
 * In a subsequent interview with Vulture.com, Dean-Charles Chapman revealed that the writers never told him how old Tommen is, and he assumed he was still 12 years old, based specifically on the fact that he was said to be 8 years old four years before in Season 1. He even tries to play him younger by user a higher pitched voice than his normal speaking voice. Chapman said: "It's kind of hard to get in the mind of a 12-year-old, because I can't even remember being 12. And Tommen is so young, he's like a baby." The same interview, however, postulated that the character might have been aged-up when he was recast, and that Chapman just assumed he is 12 years old because the writers never specified how old Tommen is.

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Tommen is seven years old when the events of the books begin. He is a gentle boy with an interest in tournaments and kittens. He is blonde haired, green eyed, plump, and not very good at martial skills (though he is very young), but he does try hard. When the royal party visits Winterfell, he is matched against Bran Stark in a training fight with wooden swords and padding. He is repeatedly knocked into the mud and loses easily, but shows good sportsmanship about it and is happy that Bran was willing to spar with him so he could give it a try. Many characters believe he would be a better king than his brother.

Like all of Cersei's children he was mostly ignored by King Robert. While Cersei felt she doted on all of her children, she is more attached to her own mental constructs of them than the reality. As Cersei's loveless marriage with Robert dragged on year after year, she increasingly fantasized about how Joffrey would one day succeed Robert and become a great king himself, never acknowledging that he was really a petulant sociopath. Ironically, despite Cersei's defiant claims (and even earnest belief) that she is a devoted mother to all of her children, she actually became so obsessed with Joffrey (and her fantasies about him) that she all but ignored Myrcella and Tommen throughout their lives. From the moment she gave birth to Joffrey, Cersei dreamed about the great king he would grow into, and how as Jaime's secret son he would be her ultimate revenge on Robert: the births of her two subsequent children were barely an anecdote in the narrative of this mental fantasy which has already been established in her mind years before. Her younger children were pushed off to the side, and with Robert a non-factor in their lives as well, they were functionally raised by court servants, such as Septa Eglantine. Even so, Cersei will still become hypocritically enraged when anyone questions her relationship with her younger children.

TV viewers who haven't read the books may find it odd that while the children of the current generation of House Stark are given a large amount of screentime, the younger children of the current generation of House Lannister barely appear at all. This is much as it was in the earlier books of the series, and is actually a key plot point: the almost total absence of Myrcella and Tommen from the inner dynamics of House Lannister is indicative of just how little importance they have to Cersei. People are aware they exist, but rarely even pause to consider treating them as individuals with their own emotions or agendas (between the two of them, they had only a single throwaway speaking line in the entire first season, "is Bran going to die?" - Rickon Stark had more dialogue in Season 1 than both of them combined). At best, Cersei will argue over their treatment on general principle, such as when she opposed "selling" Myrcella off to a political marriage in Dorne. However, Cersei was more angered in the sense that she felt something was being taken which belonged to her.

Thus it is all the more shocking when in later books, as they grow older, Myrcella and Tommen increasingly turn into major characters in the very midst of House Lannister, on the scale of Arya or Bran Stark, where before they were treated as non-entities. The other family members and courtiers (and by extension, the readers or TV viewers) are even criticized for ignoring them this entire time, and simply assuming they were content. The smiling children seen in public at the Tourney of the Hand in book/Season 1 hide a darker and empty family life. Later books also retroactively reveal that Tommen has lived in terror of Joffrey their entire lives.

At one point Tommen even says that he used to "go away inside" mentally when Joffrey did certain things to him, though the exact extent of what he did (killing his pets or something far more sinister) has not been made clear.

However, despite their parents' loveless marriage, absent father, sociopathic and abusive older brother, willfully blind and functionally absent mother, Myrcella and Tommen still seem to have a good and genuinely loving relationship between the two of them, as fellow-sufferers sharing a household with Cersei and Joffrey. Thus Tommen burst into tears when Myrcella left on her ship for Dorne, because in many ways he was losing the only family member who he loved, and who reciprocated his love.

Tommen goes to the tournament for Joffrey's nameday, having been given permission by Cersei to do a practice mounted sword fight against a quintain with a straw filled mannequin as his opponent. Joffrey sees that the quality of the jousting is poor (the Hound says they are all gnats, and Ser Dontos Hollard shows up drunk), and Joffrey decides to cancel the whole thing. Tommen and Myrcella protest, as Cersei said Tommen could take part, and Joffrey can't just cancel it. When Joffrey says they are acting childish, Myrcella responds, "We are children. We are supposed to act childish." The Hound laughs and says, "She's got you there." Joffrey relents and Tommen enthusiastically tries, but is knocked off of his horse, to Sansa and Myrcella's concern and to Joffrey's raucous laughter. Then Sansa realizes that Tommen has picked himself up and wants to try again. She realizes that even at eight years old, Tommen has all the kindness, determination, and character that Joffrey lacks and she wishes she was to marry him instead.

Tommen is not present in King's Landing during the Battle of the Blackwater in the books. Instead, while Cersei viciously punishes subordinates who flee the city, she hypocritically sends Tommen to the nearby town of Rosby so he will be safe during the battle. Also, she had been furious when Myrcella's marriage contract and transport to Dorne had been arranged by Tyrion without her input, and she wants Tommen away from King's Landing and out of Tyrion's power. Tyrion learns of it and decides it's a good idea, as it will ensure both Tommen's safety and that there is still a claimant to the throne for their faction, should the approaching Stannis Baratheon take King's Landing and have Joffrey executed. He lets the plan go through, but then sends gold cloaks under Ser Jacelyn Bywater to intercept Tommen on the road so Tyrion's own forces will be in control of Tommen's security at Rosby. Cersei is incensed, and she has Ser Boros Blount stripped of his white cloak of the Kingsguard for letting them just take over security and have Tommen, instead of what he should have done, which was dying fighting them. Cersei later takes the prostitute Alayaya prisoner, thinking that she is Tyrion's lover Shae, threatening her safety if Tyrion lets anything happen to Joffrey or Tommen during the battle (in the TV series, the prostitute was changed to Ros, and the subplot about Tommen in Tyrion's custody was cut, so Cersei only warned Tyrion about Joffrey's safety).

According to the TV series official pronunciation guide developed for the cast and crew, "Tommen Baratheon" is pronounced "TAH-min Buh-RATH-ee-un", as opposed to "Tom-men", etc.