Gendry - Any Claim to the Throne?

[Lady Lilac]

The only bastard that could have a claim is probably Edric Storm and even he is unlikely to be recognized as the legal heir.

Gendry has no idea who he is, so unless someone very important can recognize him as Robert's son (which is pretty unlikely) he will just have to stick with the Brotherhood.

[Jayce]

Gendry will be the King as of the last chapter of the last book, maybe with Arya as his queen. The hows and whys, well I guess George will write it better then I :)

[Harle The Handsome]

not unless he's legitimised, which wont happen as only a king can do that...

What if it were done by the King in the North? Arya might be able to piece together why Jon Arryn, Ned Stark AND the Gold Cloaks were so interested in him, and eventually ask her brother to legitimize him. If that happens, he would have just as much claim as the Blackfyres did. I don't think that is the likeliest scenario; I'm just sayin'.

[Kaldaur]

We have precedent in the books for legitimization of bastards. Robb legitimized Jon just before his death, making him the heir to Winterfell. Robb's death and destruction of his force meant that this legitimization was irrelevent, but the precedent is there. However, the only person who would be able to piece together Gendry's history is Arya, and I don't see that being one of her aims or even something she is remotely aware of. Stranger things have happened, though...if Catelyn can come back to life to annoy us all for the rest of the series, I suppose Gendry could be legitimized by a monarch. I wouldn't count on it.

[Elba the Intoner]

The only bastard that could have a claim is probably Edric Storm and even he is unlikely to be recognized as the legal heir.

Gendry has no idea who he is, so unless someone very important can recognize him as Robert's son (which is pretty unlikely) he will just have to stick with the Brotherhood.

We have precedent in the books for legitimization of bastards. Robb legitimized Jon just before his death, making him the heir to Winterfell. Robb's death and destruction of his force meant that this legitimization was irrelevent, but the precedent is there. However, the only person who would be able to piece together Gendry's history is Arya, and I don't see that being one of her aims or even something she is remotely aware of. Stranger things have happened, though...if Catelyn can come back to life to annoy us all for the rest of the series, I suppose Gendry could be legitimized by a monarch. I wouldn't count on it.

It's not that unlikely. Brienne figured it out.

[ARYa_Nym]

I think Stannis also already knows about him.

Anyways, it's in no one's interest to legitimize a son of Robert's. If Shireen dies Stannis should remarry and get heirs that way.

Gendry isn't educated and I'm not sure if he can even read so he wouldn't be ideal for a king.

[Blisscraft]

Stannis does know about Gendry. In AGOT, Ned discovers from the smith (Tobho Mott)(?) that Stannis and Jon Arryn came to visit Gendry shortly before Arryn's death. After Arryn's death Stannis fled to Dargonstone.

[houseHB]

I read a thread on here that someone mentioned a parallel between Lyanna/Robert/Reaghar and Arya/Jon/Gendry.

[CrypticWeirwood]

I don't get why fans are so obsses about who will be the king/queen.

Martin said that it's someone who will never guess. There are two reasons why Martin said this:

1. Some fans guess right on the various forums, so he want to trick us
   
2. It's someone we would never guess
   
3. He is not aware how easy it is to guess
   

Unless you can produce a documented citation of Martin actually saying that the person who will sit on the Iron Throne at the end is someone we’d never guess, I don’t believe it. He wouldn’t give away such an important plot point by telling us that none of Stannis, Dany, Tyrion, Jon, and so on would not be the winner at the end. Pretty sure this is just one of those baseless rumors that make the rounds but have no documented basis.

[Patchface12]

Yeah, I agree with Edric. So far as we know, he's the only one of Robert's bastards with 2 highborn parents.

[jarl the climber]

Yeah, I agree with Edric. So far as we know, he's the only one of Robert's bastards with 2 highborn parents.

We know that Gendrys Mum had blond hair, how do we know she wasn't a Blackfyre? The Blackfyres died out in the male line. We don't know what happened to the females. If Illryios wife was a Blackfyre working as a prostitute in Pentos how do we know there wasn't another one in KL working in a tavern? I thought it was weird that Varys description to Kevan of Aegon was similar to Gendrys life as well.

[Stop Rhaegar HAMMERTIME!]

UnLegitimised NO! IF Legitimised HE has a better claim than Stannis, so who would legitimise him? Also he has no army so no !

[kimo333]

I think Stannis also already knows about him.

Anyways, it's in no one's interest to legitimize a son of Robert's. If Shireen dies Stannis should remarry and get heirs that way.

Gendry isn't educated and I'm not sure if he can even read so he wouldn't be ideal for a king.

i mostly agree, but charlamagne couldnt read

[jarl the climber]

I think Stannis also already knows about him.

Anyways, it's in no one's interest to legitimize a son of Robert's. If Shireen dies Stannis should remarry and get heirs that way.

Gendry isn't educated and I'm not sure if he can even read so he wouldn't be ideal for a king.

I would be suprised if Gendry became king, it far fetched but I do beleive it would be in Stannis's interest to put these bastards(Gendry,Maya,Edric) in the spotlight because their physical appearance would help prove his assertion that Tommen and Myrcella are not Roberts.Stannis could have more kids if Selyse dies but I don't know if he can, producing the shadow babies might have left him incapable.

[Melpomene]

Well, Gendry was at least considered a threat, that's for sure - afterall, a certain someone had sent people out to kill him.

But there are some obstacles to overcome; Like Edric Storm being the only acknowledged bastard of Robert's (Something that might be tricky to beat, especially since he has more highborn blood in him too), Shireen, who is legitimate and currently Stannis' official heir after he insisted and made others promised to follow suit, and for all we know there could be a number of other bastards showing up after hearing widespread news/rumours that a previous king's kids could get a shot at a royal title. Same goes with fake basard's, using the whole black-hair excuse to stake their claim.

And, if Gendry somehow manages to find out his identity and becomes legit, he might not even want the throne in the first place.

In my googoogaga fantasy land I would like him to live a happy quiet life up north with Arya - a power couple as Lord and Lady, while both of them can still be themselves.

In context though, while he likely wouldn't be enthusiast about it, I can see him be a really good King. He lived the gritty life of a commoner, so would empathize with the everyday person's struggles and strifes. He has a strong work ethic thanks to his development as a blacksmith, and will appreciate what craftsmen have to offer to a realm. He also has a sense of justice, and likely would think more with his head than his heart or his ding a ling.

[chocobear11]

Am I the only one who when reading was thinking that Gendry might be the only legitimate Baratheon heir to the throne, being Cercei's and Robert's true born son?

[Elba the Intoner]

Am I the only one who when reading was thinking that Gendry might be the only legitimate Baratheon heir to the throne, being Cercei's and Robert's true born son?

No this has come up before. It's been fueled by the show when Cersei said that she and Robert had a son with black hair who died from a fever when young. But in the books Cersei made it clear that she never bore a child by Robert. She had Jaime find someone to "take care of it" when she got pregnant by Robert.

[Stannisport]

I don't get why fans are so obsses about who will be the king/queen.

Martin said that it's someone who will never guess.

Do you have a link that can confirm this?

Well, Gendry was at least considered a threat, that's for sure - afterall, a certain someone had sent people out to kill him.

Not to the Baratheon pretenders' claim to the throne. They tried to kill him, because of his dark hair and Baratheon features was proof that Tommen, Mycella and Joffrey were bastards, since they all look like Cersei and Jaime.

Am I the only one who when reading was thinking that Gendry might be the only legitimate Baratheon heir to the throne, being Cercei's and Robert's true born son?

The stillborn/dead Robert-Cersei child was an invention of the TV series. Probably to build up to the Cersei-Jaime = J,M,T surprise. But it's not canon in the books, so it's unlikely he'll turn out to be be the trueborn heir - even in the TV series.

[Bran Swift]

As some people before me have said, he doesn't have much of a claim and more importantly doesn't/ won't have the swords to back any claim up.

In any case, new kings aren't going to matter pretty soon. The last two books are going to be about survival for most people. If you're starving, you don't care too much about who is pretending to rule over you.

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

No, he's a bastard.

Line of succession: Stannis, Shireen, Dany.

I think Gendry would only be next if he were to be legitimised, which is not going to happen. I say "I think" because Robert may have had a male bastard who's older than Gendry.