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- "Aegon sent his commander, Orys Baratheon to take Storm's End. Argilac the Arrogant, the last of the Storm Kings, foolishly left the safety of his stronghold, and met the Baratheon warlord in open battle. Argilac was soundly defeated, and Orys took his lands, his holdings and his daughter. Orys was said to be a half-brother to Aegon Targaryen. If this were true a little "blood of the dragon" mingled with that of the stag in those days."
- ―Robert Baratheon on his ancestor
Lord Orys Baratheon was the founder of House Baratheon, and was the bastard half-brother of King Aegon I Targaryen.
Contents
Biography
Background
Orys Baratheon is the founder of House Baratheon and is the distant ancestor of King Robert Baratheon and his brothers, Stannis and Renly.
During the War of Conquest, he was a commander in the army of Aegon the Conqueror, and was the Conqueror's bastard half-brother. When Aegon invaded Westeros, he sent Orys to seize Storm's End, the ancestral seat of the Storm Kings and capital of the Stormlands. Orys defeated the Storm King, Argilac the Arrogant, and took not only Storm's End but also his sigil (the crowned black stag) and words ("Ours is the Fury"), as well as his daughter Argella, and his sword, Torment, to cement his rule over the Stormlands. He became the first Lord Paramount of the Stormlands.[1]
Season 1
The lineage of Orys Baratheon
He has an entry in The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms. It reveals Orys's marriage to Argella, and that one of his sons died stopping an assassination attempt against King Aenys Targaryen.[2]
Family tree
 Targaryen Deceased |  Targaryen Deceased |  Targaryen Deceased |  Baratheon  Deceased |  Baratheon née Durrandon  Deceased | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Targaryen 1st son of Aegon I Deceased |  Velaryon Deceased |  Targaryen 2nd son of Aegon I Deceased |  Hightower 1st wife of Maegor Deceased |  Harroway  2nd wife of Maegor Deceased |  the Tower 3rd wife of Maegor Deceased |  Costayne Black Bride of Maegor Deceased |  Westerling Black Bride of Maegor Deceased |  Targaryen Black Bride of Maegor Deceased |  of House Baratheon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Targaryen Deceased |  Targaryen Deceased |  Targaryen Deceased |  Targaryen Deceased |  child Stillborn | child Stillborn | child Stillborn | child Stillborn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the books
Orys Baratheon took Argella, daughter of the last Storm King, as his wife, to cement his rule over the Stormlands
The World of Ice and Fire reveals that Orys Baratheon was Aegon's closest friend and ally. He served Aegon as the first-ever Hand of the King, as well as the commander of his forces. Aegon offered Orys's hand in marriage to the daughter of the Storm King, Argilac Durrandon, but was rebuffed. Angered at the insult of being offered a bastard instead of a king, Argilac cut off the hands of Aegon's envoys.
When Aegon landed his army at the mouth of the Blackwater Rush, he led a lightning campaign to secure the surrounding area, taking Rosby, Stokeworth, Duskendale and Maidenpool in short order. Orys led the army while Aegon attacked from the skies.
After this victory, Aegon sent Orys and his sister-wife Rhaenys to take Storm's End. Argilac left his castle to give battle in the open, attacking during a torrential thunderstorm to limit the use of Rhaenys's dragon, Meraxes. However, Meraxes instead fought on foot and was still able to inflict carnage on Argilac's forces. Argilac himself was slain by Orys. Orys negotiated the surrender of Storm's End, with Argilac's daughter Argella delivered to him in chains and naked. Orys treated her kindly and later wed her.
Orys continued to serve Aegon as Hand of the King until the First Dornish War, during which his hand was cut off by the Wyl of Wyl while in captivity. Orys would afterwards be known as Orys One-Hand and the King's Stump, and after his return to the Aegonfort, resign as Hand of the King due to a sense of lost pride. He was later replaced in the office by a succession of men, including Lord Edmyn Tully, Lord Alton Celtigar, Ser Osmund Strong, and Lord Alyn Stokeworth. Nevertheless, he remained an important figure at the Conqueror's court, standing by Queen Visenya when Princess Deria presented Aegon I with Dorne's terms to end the war between their two realms. Orys outlived the Conqueror and served Aenys I, who succeeded Aegon I upon his death. Orys later died during one of the numerous local rebellions against Aenys I: many lords hoped that with Aegon the Conqueror dead and his weak son on the throne, they might be able to throw off Targaryen rule forever. These rebellions were crushed by Aegon's ruthless younger son, Maegor the Cruel, who succeeded Orys as Hand of the King.[3]
Archmaester Gyldayn believes Orys to be Aegon's bastard brother with a certainty; in Fire & Blood, Gyldayn writes about Orys and Aegon's brotherhood as fact, and even claims that Orys's grandson Rogar boasted that he was the blood of the dragon.[4]
The relationship between Aegon the Conqueror and Orys Baratheon may be loosely inspired by that of the real-world William the Conqueror of Normandy and Odo of Bayeux, who was the Norman conqueror's half-brother (Orys was rumored to be Aegon's half-brother) and vassal, and upon the conquest of England, was made the ruling earl of an important region of England and was his brother's regent and chancellor in that country.
See also
References
- ↑ "The Complete Guide to Westeros: House Baratheon" featurette, Season 1 Blu Ray boxset
- ↑ "A Golden Crown"
- ↑ Bubonicaon 45 GRRM live-read
- ↑ Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin
