How did Cersei find out about Robert's bastard?

[Lee-Sensei]

“You know me better than that, Robert,” Ned said. “Ask Lord Baelish if you doubt me. He was there.”

“I’ve talked to Littlefinger,” Robert said. “He claims he rode off to bring the gold cloaks before the fighting began, but he admits you were returning from some whorehouse.”

“Some whorehouse? Damn your eyes, Robert, I went there to have a look at your daughter! Her mother has named her Barra. She looks like that first girl you fathered, when we were boys together in the Vale.”

He watched the queen as he spoke; her face was a mask, still and pale, betraying nothing.

Robert flushed. “Barra,” he grumbled. “Is that supposed to please me? Damn the girl. I thought she had more sense.”

“She cannot be more than fifteen, and a whore, and you thought she had sense?” Ned said, incredulous. His leg was beginning to pain him sorely. It was hard to keep his temper. “The fool child is in love with you, Robert.”

The king glanced at Cersei. “This is no fit subject for the queen’s ears.”

Its sad, because he is trying to do the right thing.

[Lord Lannister]

Varys was known to feed Cersei information in an effort to seem invaluable according to her. Littlefinger told Ned about Barra, so why not Cersei? Jaime certainly managed to find him in a very random place and Jaime let Littlefinger go without blinking. She also might not have known about the details per se, until then. It's not out of character for Robert, so she really wouldn't need to be surprised.

[Lee-Sensei]

2 hours ago, Lord Lannister said:

Varys was known to feed Cersei information in an effort to seem invaluable according to her. Littlefinger told Ned about Barra, so why not Cersei? Jaime certainly managed to find him in a very random place and Jaime let Littlefinger go without blinking. She also might not have known about the details per se, until then. It's not out of character for Robert, so she really wouldn't need to be surprised.

Varys was protecting Robert's bastards.

[Lollygag]

Just an idea I've not completely thought out, but LF as a brothel owner likely encouraged and helped Robert produce the bastards (no moon tea for you!) and he in turn ratted them out to Cersei. He gains favor with them both.

It's not in LF's interest to rat them all out to Cersei at once, only when there's some advantage to it.

 

[Kandrax]

3 hours ago, Lee-Sensei said:

Varys was protecting Robert's bastards.

Then who told her about Gendry?

[Darth Sidious]

3 hours ago, Lollygag said:

Just an idea I've not completely thought out, but LF as a brothel owner likely encouraged and helped Robert produce the bastards (no moon tea for you!) and he in turn ratted them out to Cersei. He gains favor with them both.

It's not in LF's interest to rat them all out to Cersei at once, only when there's some advantage to it.

 

This may be true.  However, we need to be careful.  We don't want to give the impression that Robert was a fine guy until LF corrupted him and turned him into a prolific bastard maker.  Robert was already into knocking up girls and moving on without much concern for what he produced.

[Frey Kings]

Good Question! Robert def made the eight! I wonder where the rest are

[Lee-Sensei]

2 hours ago, Kandrax said:

Then who told her about Gendry?

Varys sent him to the Wall.

[Hugorfonics]

3 hours ago, Lee-Sensei said:

Varys sent him to the Wall.

Which is weird. Someone still told, killed Yoren and alot others because of it. Probably the blacksmith who was so nice to Ned. 

Why does Varys save them? Seems unspiderish. If anything he sent him to the wall and then told Cersei which road theyd be taken.

[Lollygag]

23 hours ago, Agent Orange said:

This may be true.  However, we need to be careful.  We don't want to give the impression that Robert was a fine guy until LF corrupted him and turned him into a prolific bastard maker.  Robert was already into knocking up girls and moving on without much concern for what he produced.

True, true. Didn't mean to imply that. But I don't doubt that LF would consider using those already-existing vices against Robert and perhaps make them worse. But I don't know and we'll probably not be told that.

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

It's easily explained without involving neither Varys nor Littlefinger (nor Bloodraven). City plus royal court equals gossip, probably terabytes per second's worth of it.

[Nevets]

On 5/24/2018 at 10:34 PM, Hugorfonics said:

Which is weird. Someone still told, killed Yoren and alot others because of it. Probably the blacksmith who was so nice to Ned. 

Why does Varys save them? Seems unspiderish. If anything he sent him to the wall and then told Cersei which road theyd be taken.

Lorch's men killed Yoren and the others because they thought they were in league with Beric Dondarrion, or simply because they didn't want a large group of military-aged men wandering around the area.   No mention was made of Gendry.  That's from the show.

As to how Cersei found out, it doesn't seem as though Gendry's presence was entirely secret.  Both Ned and Brienne figured out he was Robert's bastard just by looking at him.  Someone close to Cersei could have done the same.  The Gold Cloaks at the inn knew who he was; one of them may have seen him at the armorer's shop.

[Hugorfonics]

16 minutes ago, Nevets said:

Lorch's men killed Yoren and the others because they thought they were in league with Beric Dondarrion, or simply because they didn't want a large group of military-aged men wandering around the area.   No mention was made of Gendry.  That's from the show.

As to how Cersei found out, it doesn't seem as though Gendry's presence was entirely secret.  Both Ned and Brienne figured out he was Robert's bastard just by looking at him.  Someone close to Cersei could have done the same.  The Gold Cloaks at the inn knew who he was; one of them may have seen him at the armorer's shop.

He's the one we want." The officer jabbed his shortsword toward the Bull, who'd come forward to stand beside her, Praed's cheap steel in his hand.

But it was a mistake to take his eyes off Yoren, even for an instant. Quick as that, the black brother's sword was pressed to the apple of the officer's throat. "Neither's the one you get, less you want me to see if your apple's ripe yet. I got me ten, fifteen more brothers in that inn, if you still need convincing. I was you, I'd let loose of that gutcutter, spread my cheeks over that fat little horse, and gallop on back to the city." He spat, and poked harder with the point of his sword. "Now."

The officer's fingers uncurled. His sword fell in the dust.

"We'll just keep that," Yoren said. "Good steel's always needed on the Wall."

"As you say. For now. Men." The gold cloaks sheathed and mounted up. "You'd best scamper up to that Wall of yours in a hurry, old man. The next time I catch you, I believe I'll have your head to go with the bastard boy's."

[Ralphis Baratheon]

On 5/24/2018 at 4:25 PM, Agent Orange said:

This may be true.  However, we need to be careful.  We don't want to give the impression that Robert was a fine guy until LF corrupted him and turned him into a prolific bastard maker.  Robert was already into knocking up girls and moving on without much concern for what he produced.

Yet wouldn't Baelish want or even expect his prostitutes to take moon tea and not become pregnant? If a bunch of his employees became pregnant that would be bad for his business I would imagine. Seems to me that Littlefinger would have an ulterior motive in letting one of his girls become pregnant. That he only allowed Barra's mother to become pregnant and still house and feed her because she carried King Bob's kid.

[Nevets]

28 minutes ago, Hugorfonics said:

He's the one we want." The officer jabbed his shortsword toward the Bull, who'd come forward to stand beside her, Praed's cheap steel in his hand.

But it was a mistake to take his eyes off Yoren, even for an instant. Quick as that, the black brother's sword was pressed to the apple of the officer's throat. "Neither's the one you get, less you want me to see if your apple's ripe yet. I got me ten, fifteen more brothers in that inn, if you still need convincing. I was you, I'd let loose of that gutcutter, spread my cheeks over that fat little horse, and gallop on back to the city." He spat, and poked harder with the point of his sword. "Now."

The officer's fingers uncurled. His sword fell in the dust.

"We'll just keep that," Yoren said. "Good steel's always needed on the Wall."

"As you say. For now. Men." The gold cloaks sheathed and mounted up. "You'd best scamper up to that Wall of yours in a hurry, old man. The next time I catch you, I believe I'll have your head to go with the bastard boy's."

That is the scene at the inn.  Yoren and company survived that encounter.  The later encounter at the holdfast wasn't with the goldcloaks.  After they left the inn, they left the Kingsroad and traveled through the country to put off pursuit.  Gendry's presence had nothing to do with the fight at the holdfast where Yoren was killed.

[Megorova]

Everybody knew about Edric Storm. But Cersei knew about him, even before he was acknowledged by Robert. I don't remember who exactly said it, either Cersei or Jaime, that during Stannis' wedding night, when Robert was with Delena Florent (on that night Edric was conceived), Cersei and Jaime also got together and had sex, and Cersei knew where Robert was at that time. Also people knew about Mya Stone, Robert's bastard-daughter from The Vale.

So Cersei was aware of Robert's bastards, even without any assistance from Varys or Littlefinger.

On 5/25/2018 at 1:30 AM, Kandrax said:

Then who told her about Gendry?

I think, that after what happened with Lannisters at Winterfell, they were weary of Ned. So when he came to KL, Cersei got her people spying after him. They went after Ned to that blacksmith, and later reported to Cersei what they saw there, and what Ned was doing, while he was snopping around.

[Hugorfonics]

1 hour ago, Nevets said:

That is the scene at the inn.  Yoren and company survived that encounter.  The later encounter at the holdfast wasn't with the goldcloaks.  After they left the inn, they left the Kingsroad and traveled through the country to put off pursuit.  Gendry's presence had nothing to do with the fight at the holdfast where Yoren was killed.

Ahh gotcha

[BRANDON GREYSTARK]

It was Baelish .

[norwaywolf123]

On 5/24/2018 at 9:15 PM, Lee-Sensei said:

Varys was protecting Robert's bastards.

Atleast some of them.

[Angel Eyes]

On 5/24/2018 at 9:05 PM, Frey Kings said:

Good Question! Robert def made the eight! I wonder where the rest are

I made a thread a while ago about whether or not Robert made a bastard in the North.