House Baratheon of King's Landing

"The King Joffrey Baratheon is neither a true king, nor a true Baratheon."

- Robb Stark

House Baratheon of King's Landing is a cadet branch of the original House Baratheon of Storm's End and the royal house of Westeros since the defeat of and exile of the Targaryen dynasty following Robert's Rebellion.

Their seat is the Red Keep in the city of King's Landing and their domains are the lands ruled directly by the Iron Throne, the Crownlands.

Under Robert I
Robert Baratheon founded the new royal House after he deposed the last Targaryen king, Aerys the Mad, during the War of the Usurper. Afterwards, Robert ruled the Seven Kingdoms for seventeen prosperous and mostly peaceful years (barring the localized Greyjoy Rebellion which occurred eight years into his reign). To strengthen his powerbase, Robert entered into a marriage-alliance with the wealthy House Lannister, wedding Lord Tywin Lannister's daughter Cersei. Their first child died in infancy, but afterwards Cersei gave birth to three children: Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen.

After the mysterious and sudden death of Hand of the King Jon Arryn, Robert brought his old friend and wartime companion Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, to serve as the new Hand of the King. Eddard eventually discovered the truth that Jon Arryn had died for: none of Cersei's children, including Joffrey, were Robert's children. Rather, they were all bastards of incest fathered by Cersei's own twin brother Jaime. Out of mercy, and his steadfast refusal to harm children, Eddard directly confronted Cersei with his discovery and warned her to flee Westeros with her children. In response, Cersei had Robert assassinated by having her cousin Lancel Lannister (serving as the king's squire) slip Robert very strong wine during a hunt. Robert's senses were dulled enough that a boar managed to fatally gore him. As soon as Robert passed, Cersei sat Joffrey on the Iron Throne, and demanded Stark's submission, but he ordered the Gold Cloaks to take the royal family into custody - not realizing that Janos Slynt and his men were already bought by the Lannisters and Petyr Baelish, who all betrayed Lord Stark, killing his remaining guards and arresting him. Cersei's plan was to force Eddard into signing a confession but be allowed to keep his life by joining the Night's Watch. However, on a sadistic whim, Joffrey ordered Lord Eddard beheaded on the very steps of the Great Sept of Baelor - a politically disastrous blunder which drove the North to openly declare its independence.

Under Joffrey I
After Joffrey succeeded Robert as king, he changed the heraldry of his House from a crowned stag, to a crowned stag and a lion combatant, giving equal standing to his mother's family, House Lannister - indeed, slightly more than equal standing, as the lion's tail prominently crosses over into the stag's side of the heraldry, and hovers over the stag's head, implying the superiority of the Lannister lion. Metaphorically revealing Joffrey's "true colors", this reflects how he was never particularly close to Robert, while he was doted on and indulged by Cersei, so he always thought of himself more as a Lannister.

Soon after Joffrey took the throne, Stannis Baratheon sent letters across all of Westeros, revealing that Joffrey was a bastard of incest with no right to the throne. As it turned out, Eddard's letter revealing his discoveries to Stannis had successfully arrived on Dragonstone. Stannis therefore declared himself Robert's lawful successor as king, being his oldest brother.

Robert's youngest brother Renly Baratheon had already declared his claim to the throne as soon as Robert died, based solely on the fact that Joffrey was an insane monster unsuitable to rule, and Cersei Lannister's puppet. The rumors that Joffrey was a bastard of incest only served to strengthen Renly's claim.

While the two surviving Baratheon brothers bickered between themselves over which of the two of them had the better claim to the throne, virtually all of the lords from the Stormlands who were sworn to House Baratheon abandoned Joffrey to declare for either Renly or Stannis (mostly Renly, with a few declaring for Stannis). Other than a few court retainers in King's Landing, which were always more attached to the royal government than the Baratheons and Stormlands, "House Baratheon of King's Landing" contained essentially no links with the historical "House Baratheon" except for the name.

After arriving in King's Landing, Joffrey's uncle Tyrion arranged a marriage-alliance with House Martell of Dorne, in which Princess Myrcella would be betrothed to their youngest son, Trystane Martell, and wed when they come of age. This maintains Dorne's neutrality and at least keeps it from actively joining Joffrey's enemies, though the Martells do not outright send troops to aid his faction. Despite Cersei's protests, Myrcella is sent to Dorne via ship to secure the pact.

Stannis later arranged Renly's assassination, and he died without issue, leaving Stannis to take control of the Stormlands' armies and move against King's Landing. At the subsequent Battle of the Blackwater, Joffrey's forces managed to crush most of the armies of the Storm Lords, with the few survivors bending the knee or declaring their neutrality. Most of the Stormlands are occupied by Joffrey's forces as a result, though Storm's End itself has not yet fallen.

Soon afterwards, a new marriage agreement is proposed between Joffrey and Margaery Tyrell (Renly's widow), to cement the new Lannister-Tyrell alliance. Master of Coin Petyr Baelish is also sent to the Vale of Arryn to marry Lysa Arryn, confirming the Vale's neutrality as well. With Dorne also kept neutral through Myrcella's betrothal, and the loss of Stannis's army at the Blackwater, Joffrey's hold on the mainland of Westeros begins to tighten. The betrayal at the Red Wedding then brings a quick end to the Northern rebellion with the death of Robb Stark and destruction of his army. Joffrey's new allies the Boltons and Freys will replace the Starks and Tullys in the North and Riverlands, respectively. At this point Joffrey stands at the zenith of his power, having secured almost all of mainland Westeros: the only remaining opposition to his rule are Stannis on Dragonstone, the Iron Islands, and a few holdout River Lords such as Brynden Tully at Riverrun itself. However, for all of Joffrey's good fortune, his grandfather Tywin makes it abundantly clear during a Small Council meeting that Joffrey is merely his puppet, and that this is truly a Lannister victory.

Members

 * King {Robert Baratheon}, called "the Usurper" by Targaryen loyalists, the head of the family and the King before his death.
 * His wife, Queen Regent Cersei, of House Lannister.
 * Their eldest son and Robert's heir, {Joffrey Baratheon}, now the King of the Andals and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, dubbed "the King on the Iron Throne", poisoned at his wedding feast.
 * Their daughter, Princess Myrcella Baratheon, second in line to the throne. Currently in Dorne as a ward of House Martell, as part of her betrothal to Trystane Martell.
 * Their youngest son, Prince Tommen Baratheon, the following King of the Andals and the First Men.

Note: Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen are legally held to be the children of King Robert Baratheon, but they are actually bastards born of incest between Queen Cersei and her twin brother, Ser Jaime Lannister. This information is not publicly known in Seven Kingdoms except as a rumor and only a few know it to be true.

This makes House Baratheon of King's Landing a nigh-cadet branch of House Lannister. Of course, given that bastard children (particularly unacknowledged bastards) cannot inherit, it is unlikely that it will ever be considered an "official" cadet branch of House Lannister.

Royal Court and Household

 * King Tommen's small council:
 * Lord Tywin Lannister, Lord Paramount of the Westerlands, Lord of Casterly Rock, Warden of the West and Savior of the City, the Hand of the King and, currently, Protector of the Realm.
 * Queen Cersei Lannister, Regent until Tommen comes of age.
 * Grand Maester Pycelle, advisor and healer, reinstated by Lord Tywin's decree.
 * Lord Varys, called "the Spider", the Master of Whisperers.
 * Lord Mace Tyrell, Lord of Highgarden, Lord Paramount of the Reach and Warden of the South, the Master of Ships.
 * Prince Oberyn Martell, called "the Red Viper of Dorne", advisor.


 * King Tommen's Kingsguard:
 * Ser Jaime Lannister, called "the Kingslayer", Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
 * Ser Meryn Trant
 * Ser Boros Blount
 * Ser Preston Greenfield
 * Ser Balon Swann, promoted after the Battle of the Blackwater
 * Ser Arys Oakheart, currently in Dorne as Princess Myrcella's sworn shield.


 * Queen Margaery Tyrell, Lord Mace's eldest daughter, King Joffrey's widow and King Tommen's betrothed.
 * Ser Loras Tyrell, called "the Knight of the Flowers", Lord Mace's son and heir.
 * Lady Olenna Tyrell, called "the Queen of Thorns", widow of the late Lord Luthor Tyrell, Lord Mace's mother.
 * Ser Kevan Lannister, Lord Tywin's brother and adviser
 * Ser Lancel Lannister, his eldest son, a knight and squire to the late King Robert, gravely wounded in the Battle of Blackwater.
 * Lord Gyles Rosby, Lord of Rosby.
 * Ser Aron Santagar, master-at-arms of the Red Keep.
 * Ser Ilyn Payne, the King's Justice.
 * Tyrion Lannister, former Master of Coin, imprisoned for the assassination of King Joffrey.
 * Princess Sansa Stark, his wife, and hostage of the Iron Throne. Now a fugitive under the protection of Petyr Baelish, the Lord of Harrenhal.
 * Ser Bronn of the Blackwater, a former sellsword and once a knight in Tyrion Lannister's service, former Commander of the City Watch, currently betrothed to Lollys Stokeworth.
 * Podrick Payne, Tyrion Lannister's former squire. Now in The Riverlands, squiring for Brienne of Tarth.
 * Septa Eglantine, Princess Myrcella's governess. Currently in Dorne with Myrcella.
 * Qyburn, a former maester now serving Queen Cersei.
 * {Dontos Hollard}, called "Ser Dontos the Red", a former knight and King Joffrey's fool. The last of his line. Killed by men serving Lord Baelish after delivering Sansa Stark to him.

Sworn to House Baratheon of King's Landing

 * House Blount
 * House Byrch
 * House Chelsted
 * House Gaunt
 * {House Hollard} - now extinct
 * House Rosby of Rosby
 * House Rykker of Duskendale
 * House Slynt
 * House Stokeworth of Castle Stokeworth
 * House Thorne

In the books
Houses sworn to House Baratheon of King's Landing in the books, yet to appear in the series, include:


 * House Buckwell of Antlers
 * House Hayford of Hayford
 * House Staunton of Rook's Rest

In the books, it is Stannis Baratheon who first begins to suspect that Robert Baratheon has no true born heirs, but he knew that Robert wouldn't listen to anything he had to say. So he enlisted Jon Arryn's help in his investigations, because Robert listened to Jon. Eddard Stark found out that they travelled together when visiting Gendry at the blacksmith and baby Barra at the brothel, while he was trying to trace Jon Arryn's footsteps. Jon Arryn found the proof in the book of lineages that he borrowed from Grand Maester Pycelle. He died saying "the seed is strong", i.e. black hair is a dominant trait over blonde hair. When Jon Arryn dies suddenly and mysteriously, Stannis leaves King's Landing for Dragonstone. Stannis talks about this to Renly, while negotiating with him at Storm's End. The letter Eddard Stark writes to Stannis saying he is Robert's heir and heir to the Iron Throne never reaches Stannis, and it is used by Cersei as proof of Lord Eddard's treason. While in the Red Keep's dungeon, Ned laments that the truth about Cersei's children was written right on their faces: all three are blonde and look nothing like Robert, but all of Robert's bastard children strongly resemble him.

Royal inheritance laws are different from normal inheritance laws, putting female heirs behind all possible male ones, meaning that Myrcella actually ranked behind Stannis and Renly. Even in the TV series, Renly specifies in Season 1's "The Wolf and the Lion" that he is fourth in line to the throne, behind Joffrey, Tommen, and Stannis - but skipping Myrcella. The Lannisters tried to at least maintain the pretense that Joffrey was Robert's lawful heir. After Joffrey's death, however, if Tommen also died, Stannis would technically be next in line for the throne, regardless of what happened to Myrcella. The Lannisters do not particularly care about the lawful line of succession, and would probably just wave aside that Stannis was a traitor who attacked King's Landing, but it would be much more difficult for them to maintain any pretenses about their grab for the throne.