Assassination of Balon Greyjoy

"You're old, brother. You've had your time. Now let another rule."

- Euron Greyjoy and Balon Greyjoy

The Assassination of Balon Greyjoy is an event during the War of the Five Kings which sees the death of Balon Greyjoy, King of the Iron Islands, at the hands of his own brother, Euron Greyjoy.

Prelude
Several years before the events of the series, Balon Greyjoy exiles the eldest of his younger brothers, Euron Greyjoy, for disgracing his second-youngest brother, Victarion Greyjoy. Along the years, Euron establishes himself as a feared pirate captain throughout Westeros and Essos.

Brothers Reunite
After Yara Greyjoy informs Balon that House Glover has retaken Deepwood Motte and they have no more holdings mainland, Balon states that he does not care and intends to send more Ironborn to raid and hold the North. However, as he walks onto a bridge between two towers of Pyke during a storm, he encounters Euron, who has returned to the Iron Islands following the deaths of Tywin Lannister and Stannis Baratheon. After a brief exchange in which Euron makes it clear he has come to replace his brother, Balon draws a knife and slashes Euron across the face, but Euron retaliates by wrestling Balon over the bridge, sending him falling to his death.

Aftermath


A funeral is held for Balon, where Yara vows to avenge her father, obviously expecting to succeed him. Her youngest uncle, Aeron "Damphair" Greyjoy, however, informs her that there will be a Kingsmoot to decide who will succeed Balon as King of the Iron Islands.

In the books
In the novels, Balon is killed before the other two "usurpers", Robb and Joffrey, against whom Stannis and Melisandre performed the leech ritual, using the blood of Edric Storm, a bastard son of King Robert. While the murders of Robb and Joffrey take place "on-screen" and their murderers are revealed to the readers, Balon's death takes place "off-screen" and its circumstances remain obscure by the point the books reached. The official version is that he was crossing a bridge during a storm and it was broken by the wind; he washed up two days later, all bloated and broken, crabs ate his eyes. There are, however, hints that it is Euron's handiwork: Neither Asha nor anyone else declares a vendetta against the unknown murderer.
 * The prophecy of an old woman, known as the ghost of High Heart: "I dreamt of a man without a face, waiting on a bridge that swayed and swung. On his shoulder perched a drowned crow with seaweed hanging from his wings" - implying that Euron hired a assassin from the Faceless Men to kill his elder brother.
 * Euron, who was exiled several years ago by Balon, returns to the Iron Isles one day after Balon's death. Asha, more intelligent and analytical than most ironborn, suspects Euron of killing her father and confronts him in public. He dismisses her accusation nonchalantly, claiming he was on his ship, whose crew members are - very conveniently - mutes. Except Asha, no one has suggested Balon was murdered, accused Euron (or anyone else) of Balon's death, or bothered to investigate it. Nearly everyone, including Aeron and Victarion, simply accept Balon's death as a fact, and the reason does not matter to them.

Of note, it isn't clear whether the leech ritual had any effect at all in respect of the deaths of the three "usurpers": Robb's and Joffrey's murders were obviously not caused by magical means. Perhaps the ritual has effect, though indirect, by providing a twist of fate that ensures the victim's death by some other means, not necessarily magical; or, maybe the ritual was just a sham of Melisandre, who has foreseen the three deaths and performed the ritual to make it look like the future deaths are the result of her witchcraft.

With Balon's death, by the point the books reached Stannis is the only survivor of the five kings, after whom the War of the Five Kings is titled.

Balon's death has a very little effect on the events at the mainland, particulary the War of Five Kings: the only notable result is that Victarion returns to the Iron Isles, leaving behind a skeletal garrison in Moat Cailin, what would have made it easier for Robb Stark to liberate Moat Cailin had he not been killed in the Red Wedding - and made it easier for Theon to persuade the ironborn to surrender to the Boltons.