The Worth of Renly Baratheon

[Pixi Penrose]

I think you're right on the money with Robert. I do think though, that there is a great difference between the best king in times of war and the best king in times of peace. Robert was a warrior-king, great in battle, awesome at rallying people to his cause, but in times of peace, he's clueless. I think he says something like: "Winning the throne was the least of it, sitting on it is the hard part." when he speaks to Ned.

I actually had faith i Renly as well as the threadstarter. He didn't seem to have done anything that appalling, and he seemed like someone who could gather people round him, well loved as it were. But agreeing with some of the other answers in this thread: I couldn't see him battling the Others. Don't think he had the cohones to do that.

I'm not gonna talk of stannis, he's boring;-b

Robert had a very disturbing tendency to turn a blind eye to things that he really should have been dealing with, both on a personal and on a state level. The corruption of his physical flesh seems like a metaphor for the corruption festering in the kingdom throughout his reign.

Have we really seen any evidence of Renly being treacherous? I think he was just as true as Robert (which isn't all that much, unless we're using 'true' as a synonym for 'pig-headed' :P) in his own way. Maybe the sham marriage with Margaery was a bit false and unfair to her, but beyond that Renly seemed to be a decent enough man.

It's interesting when Ned twice implores Robert to adopt the ways of the First Men and kill his victims personally, and he thinks Ned mad for suggesting it. Robert no more wants Lady's and Dany's and her unborn child's blood on his hands than he wanted Rhaenys and Aegon's blood on his hands (though of course he wanted the benefit of their deaths). In a way, he's a terrible coward.

Stannis, on the other hand, quite readily agreed to the First Man way, taking Davos' fingers off personally.

[Kate Poem]

"A young man in Renly's situation would have been wise not to flaunt his abilities"

"I'll spit in my older, boring, stern brother's face and I'll be king! I'll fight with him, I'll kill him! I have big army, my Knight of Flowers and my queen, and Tyrell's money! Wow!"

Renly should bend his knee before his brother and accept his proposition about succession. The end.

[RAAM]

truthfully, i think that renlys a dumbass, for example, when danys outside yunkai, she tells them when shes going to attack, but then attacks during the night, renly also tells stannis when hes going to attack, but he was actually going to attack when he said he would instead of attacking during the night, not only that, but hes completely fine to let his men attack at dawn when theyll be charging into the sunrise, blinding them, also, he gives the van to loras, hes a good knight but is an inexperienced leader, is rash, and only gains this position because he has renlys favor(bad for as a general ans as a king), tywin wouldve put tarly in command of the van, hes experienced, has a rep as an effective battle leader, and is more cool heaeded(in battle at least), plus renlys genius strategy is"charge directly at them" how could he possibly make a good leader?he shows that he appoints people based on how much he likes them, not on ability, hes overconfident, simple in his strategy, not the steady, smart type of simple, but the ineffective simple, and he showed that he scares easily when faced with an actual obstacle(KL)

[Akhôrahil]

I think that is bull. I think Renly was the king who would have brought the realm together and ruled it intelligently and effectively for the rest of his life.

I think Renly would be a decent "Summer King" (to draw an analogy to his Summer Knights). He's a decent person, has charisma, could probably unify the realm and rule reasonably well under normal conditions.

But I don't think he's the man you want in a crisis - there's not much substance to him, nor staying power, and he would probably crumble under pressure. He's not the man you want in charge when the Others strike.

[Winterfell is Burning]

I think Renly would be a decent "Summer King" (to draw an analogy to his Summer Knights). He's a decent person, has charisma, could probably unify the realm and rule reasonably well under normal conditions.

But I don't think he's the man you want in a crisis - there's not much substance to him, nor staying power, and he would probably crumble under pressure. He's not the man you want in charge when the Others strike.

I agree.

And all that makes him the opposite of Stannis, whom you may not like or want as your king, but in a battle, you would want to follow, because he knows what he is doing.