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When and why Stannis and Selyse got hitched?


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In the HBO series, Stannis mentions that Selyse was at Storm's End during Robert's Rebellion, but was this the case in the novels as well? I had figured, with Robert boning Delena Florent at their wedding, that it was a post-Rebellion marriage. I don't recall how old Edric Storm is, but if he's younger than, say, Robb Stark, then I guess marrying off Stannis to a Florent was a Jon Arryn political maneuver? If so, that surprises me; the Florents are opportunistic and I'm surprised the Tyrells, who don't exactly have the best option at hand, would have wanted the Florents to gain that political connection.


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Their wedding happened in 287 (since Edric was conceived there and Edric was 12 in 299 AC), which means Stannis must have taken it and Robert must have been king. So no. It happened several years after the rebellion. This was probably just another bit of spite on Robert's part. Even ignoring him being the brother of the king, Stannis is the Master of Ships and Lord of Dragonstone, as well as a war hero and the unofficial co-Hand. Selyse, by contrast, is the niece of a relatively minor Reach lord. It's not a politically advantageous for him at all.


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In the HBO series, Stannis mentions that Selyse was at Storm's End during Robert's Rebellion, but was this the case in the novels as well? I had figured, with Robert boning Delena Florent at their wedding, that it was a post-Rebellion marriage. I don't recall how old Edric Storm is, but if he's younger than, say, Robb Stark, then I guess marrying off Stannis to a Florent was a Jon Arryn political maneuver? If so, that surprises me; the Florents are opportunistic and I'm surprised the Tyrells, who don't exactly have the best option at hand, would have wanted the Florents to gain that political connection.

I'm fairly certain in the books it happened not long after RR with the tyrells being loyalists to a certain extent a marriage to a florent a family with a better claim help prevent them from getting uppity go on rebel I dare you I'll name stannis as lord of the reach or axel frolent enjoy being one of their vassals.

Hmm not sure why that quoted don't think I clicked that.

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I'm fairly certain in the books it happened not long after RR with the tyrells being loyalists to a certain extent a marriage to a florent a family with a better claim help prevent them from getting uppity go on rebel I dare you I'll name stannis as lord of the reach or axel frolent enjoy being one of their vassals.

Hmm not sure why that quoted don't think I clicked that.

Loyalists or not, I'm surprised that the Tyrells didn't just offer Margaery to Stannis when she came of age. Stannis wasn't exactly in dire need of an heir by that point, and in any case it doesn't seem like he was jumping at the chance to get married. Just tell him to wait a while and then give him Margaery when she flowers. It's just unusual, and marrying a Tyrell cements their allegiance more than threatening to take away their lordship if they bridle.

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Loyalists or not, I'm surprised that the Tyrells didn't just offer Margaery to Stannis when she came of age. Stannis wasn't exactly in dire need of an heir by that point, and in any case it doesn't seem like he was jumping at the chance to get married. Just tell him to wait a while and then give him Margaery when she flowers. It's just unusual, and marrying a Tyrell cements their allegiance more than threatening to take away their lordship if they bridle.

Margaery came to age around two years, at most, before the series started. Moreover, the Tyrells don't particularly like Stannis nor is he some great catch especially when there are Baratheon options like Joffrey and Renly still on the table.

Stannis probably married Selyse for her compatible personality to his.

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Margaery came to age around two years, at most, before the series started. Moreover, the Tyrells don't particularly like Stannis nor is he some great catch especially when there are Baratheon options like Joffrey and Renly still on the table.

Stannis probably married Selyse for her compatible personality to his.

That's a bit harsh at least when stannis is a dick there's a 50/50 chance it's funny.

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Don't know exactly, that particular paragraph went something like "Stannis took it for an insult - Robert intended it to be one" or the like. Probably a Tyrion chapter, but truth to tell I'm just guessing at the location.

That was when Cersei and Tyrion were discussing Stannis receiving Dragonstone not his marriage to Selyse. If Robert had done it we would have countless chapters of Stannis complaining about it.

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Don't know exactly, that particular paragraph went something like "Stannis took it for an insult - Robert intended it to be one" or the like. Probably a Tyrion chapter, but truth to tell I'm just guessing at the location.

Isn't it more likely arryn arranged it with Roberts consent he was hand and seemed a decent with politics and diplomacy.

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I think it's 'one of those things' as in, there is no real explanation it just sets things up for GOT. Use your imagination, perhaps the Florents threw in for Robert early and he decided to reward them by giving them his irksome brother (Robert's opinion, not mine).

Stannis isn't just Roberts next of kin, he's his closest rival. Every other potential threat is ruthlessly destroyed, which isn't an option with Stannis. Instead, he marries his brother into the black sheep of the Reach and isolates him to a small island. Effectively capping Stannis' strength.

TBH, I'm just guessing but I did get the impression that Robert had a very uneasy relationship with his brother, culminating with his failure to kill the Targ kids. We've all seen what an irate and uncompromising ox RB could be. It makes sense to me that RB would stitch up his own brother to secure his throne and lineage.

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Seems like a rather silly political move to me, Florents aren't direct vassals to the iron throne, and are fierce rivals with the Tyrells, who are, you're just inciting mace to rebel here.

On the contrary, you could argue its a great political move. If the Tyrells rebelled, then there is at least one house in the Reach who would remain loyal to the throne due to the marriage, which might lead to others following their lead. And if the Tyrells rebelled and were removed from power, you have a loyal vassal tied to the throne to raise as the new lords of the Reach

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