Steffon baranthon as king

[History]

What kind of king would steffon baratheon be if he and wife  survived and the ship did not break up in shipbreaker bay and robert rebbellion still happen?

[Bael's Bastard]

17 minutes ago, History said:

What kind of king would steffon baratheon be if he and wife  survived and the ship did not break up in shipbreaker bay and robert rebbellion still happen?

We can't assume that things would have played out the way they did if Steffon had lived. Steffon appears to have maintained a good relationship with Aerys up to his death. Had he lived, he might have even been someone Aerys might have been willing to listen to, or at least consider. Had he been there to advise Aerys, especially if Aerys had gone ahead with naming him Hand, things might have been much different. I don't see any evidence Steffon coveted the throne for himself or his son, and he would have needed a pretty damn good reason to even consider opposing his king, cousin, and old friend Aerys.

[History]

1 minute ago, Bael's Bastard said:

We can't assume that things would have played out the way they did if Steffon had lived. Steffon appears to have maintained a good relationship with Aerys up to his death. Had he lived, he might have even been someone Aerys might have been willing to listen to, or at least consider. Had he been there to advise Aerys, especially if Aerys had gone ahead with naming him Hand, things might have been much different. I don't see any evidence Steffon coveted the throne for himself or his son, and he would have needed a pretty damn good reason to even consider opposing his king, cousin, and old friend Aerys.

Twyn lanister was a old friend of aerys but he turned against aerys after aerys insults and actions so there a chance steffon would opose him id he disliked/oposed aerys actions/behavior.

[Bael's Bastard]

46 minutes ago, History said:

Twyn lanister was a old friend of aerys but he turned against aerys after aerys insults and actions so there a chance steffon would opose him id he disliked/oposed aerys actions/behavior.

We can't assume that the relationship between Steffon and Aerys would have deteriorated just because the relationship between Tywin and Aerys did. The "honeymoon" between Aerys and Tywin as his Hand did not last long, and deteriorated over two decades.

In 259 AC, Joanna went to King's Landing for Jaehaerys I's coronation, and remained Princess/Queen Rhaelle's lady in waiting until being dismissed shortly after she wed Tywin in 263 AC. Joanna is rumored to have given Aerys her maidenhead the night of Jaehaerys's coronation in 259 AC, and to have briefly been his paramour after his accession in 262 AC.

In 262 AC, Aerys named Tywin his Hand.

By 263 AC, at the wedding feast of Tywin and Joanna, Aerys was heard to say that it was "a great pity that the lord's right to the first night had been abolished" according to Barristan Selmy, who adds, "A drunken jape, no more, but Tywin Lannister was not a man to forget such words, or the … the liberties your father took during the bedding." TWOIAF tells us, "It has been reliably reported, however, that King Aerys took unwonted liberties with Lady Joanna's person during her bedding ceremony, to Tywin's displeasure."

In 266 AC, Joanna gave birth to Cersei and Jaime, which is reported to have exacerbated the tensions between Aerys and Tywin. "I appear to have married the wrong woman," His Grace was reported to have said, when informed of the happy event. Nonetheless, he sent each child its weight in gold as a nameday gift and commanded Tywin to bring them to court when they were old enough to travel. "And bring their mother, too, for it has been too long since I gazed upon that fair face," he insisted.

In 267 AC, upon the death of Tytos, and Tywin becoming Lord of Casterly Rock, Aerys brought the court to the Westerlands, where it remained for the better part of the next year, until returning to King's Landing in 268 AC, when "governance resumed as before...but it was plain to all that the friendship between the king and his Hand was fraying. Where previously Aerys had sided with Tywin Lannister on most matters of substance, now the two men began to disagree."

In 272 AC, at a tourney held to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Aerys's rule, " Joanna Lannister brought her six-year-old twins Jaime and Cersei from Casterly Rock to present before the court. The king (very much in his cups) asked her if giving suck to them had "ruined your breasts, which were so high and proud." The question greatly amused Lord Tywin's rivals, who were always pleased to see the Hand slighted or made mock of, but Lady Joanna was humiliated. Tywin Lannister attempted to return his chain of office the next morning, but the king refused to accept his resignation."

In 273 AC,  Joanna died delivering Tyrion. Upon hearing of his birth, King Aerys infamously said, "The gods cannot abide such arrogance. They have plucked a fair flower from his hand and given him a monster in her place, to teach him some humility at last." "It was not long before reports of the king's remarks reached Lord Tywin as he grieved at Casterly Rock. Thereafter, no shred of the old affection between the two men endured. "

That is just in the first 10-11 years of the reign of Aerys and Tywin's service as his Hand. We know that their relationship only deteriorated more and more, including Aerys refusing to wed Rhaegar to Cersei, naming his heir Jaime to the Kingsguard, and everything in between.

There is no hint of any such deterioration in the relationship between Aerys and Steffon. After Duskendale in 277 AC, Aerys named his old friend/cousin Steffon to his Small Council, and in 278 AC, Aerys entrusted Steffon with finding a bride for his heir Rhaegar, rather than giving that task to Tywin or Rhaegar himself. It was even rumored that Aerys intended to name Steffon as his Hand upon his return, and to dismiss and possibly even arrest and try Tywin.

We don't know what sort of effect Steffon had on Aerys. I wouldn't be surprised if he got along quite well with Aerys, and was someone Aerys might listen to or at least consider. He might have had the opposite effect on Aerys that Tywin had, who seemed to make him paranoid and jealous. Aside from whatever issue Aerys had with Tywin in regard to Joanna, Aerys clearly had issues with Tywin being portrayed as the true ruler, and with the perception of being undermined by Tywin. There doesn't appear to be any issue like that with Steffon, who seems to have preferred his own seat Storm's End to King's Landing.

[Lion of the West]

We know to little about Steffon as a person to know if he would be up to the task of being king.

[John Suburbs]

1 hour ago, History said:

What kind of king would steffon baratheon be if he and wife  survived and the ship did not break up in shipbreaker bay and robert rebbellion still happen?

It doesn't appear that Steffon was still alive to agree to the match between Robert and Lyanna. Steffon died in 278, and by the Tourney at Harrenhall in late 281, Robert and Lyanna are still unmarried -- so that would be a heckuva long betrothal. So if Steffon had lived, it's quite likely that the betrothal would not have been made at all, and without that there would be no reason for House Baratheon to rebel against the king in the account of Lyanna's abduction.

[Bael's Bastard]

59 minutes ago, John Suburbs said:

It doesn't appear that Steffon was still alive to agree to the match between Robert and Lyanna. Steffon died in 278, and by the Tourney at Harrenhall in late 281, Robert and Lyanna are still unmarried -- so that would be a heckuva long betrothal. So if Steffon had lived, it's quite likely that the betrothal would not have been made at all, and without that there would be no reason for House Baratheon to rebel against the king in the account of Lyanna's abduction.

According to AGOT: Eddard IV, Robert was Lord of Storm's End when Lord Rickard promised Lyanna's hand to him. and according to TWOIAF: The Year of the False Spring, Lyanna and Robert had already been long betrothed by the time of the Harrenhal Tourney. So they must have been betrothed some time after Lord Steffon's death in 278 AC, and before the Harrenhal Tourney in late 281 AC. It would be interesting to know at what point Robert became obsessed with Lyanna, and what Steffon's stance on such a match would have been. It sounds like Robert suggested it to Rickard, but if he was already obsessed with Lyanna, I would be surprised if he never brought up his desire to wed her to his father. In general, the amount of unwed and unmarried lords and heirs in the early 280s AC is crazy. What the hell were they all waiting for?

[John Suburbs]

27 minutes ago, Bael's Bastard said:

According to AGOT: Eddard IV, Robert was Lord of Storm's End when Lord Rickard promised Lyanna's hand to him. and according to TWOIAF: The Year of the False Spring, Lyanna and Robert had already been long betrothed by the time of the Harrenhal Tourney. So they must have been betrothed some time after Lord Steffon's death in 278 AC, and before the Harrenhal Tourney in late 281 AC. It would be interesting to know at what point Robert became obsessed with Lyanna, and what Steffon's stance on such a match would have been. It sounds like Robert suggested it to Rickard, but if he was already obsessed with Lyanna, I would be surprised if he never brought up his desire to wed her to his father. In general, the amount of unwed and unmarried lords and heirs in the early 280s AC is crazy. What the hell were they all waiting for?

I think the Tully's were looking to form a power bloc that could conceivably counter Aerys and his principal backers, the Tyrells. If you look at history, Highgarden has been the hegemon on the realm for thousands of years -- first under the Gardners, then the Tyrells. The only times Highgarden has fallen, it was due to poor management on the part of the Gardner kings, namely bad marriages, and/or a concerted effort among several rival houses to take them down. Also, the history of the realm shows that marriages between the kingdoms prior to the Conquest, and afterwards between the lords paramount, are pretty rare. Most houses marry with their own bannermen as a way to shore up their own support within their realms. So suddenly, we have Tullys, Starks, Arryns, Lannisters and eventually Baratheons all looking to marry one another, which a smart cookie like Varys would instantly see as a threat to Targaryen rule, as would Lady Olenna who is running Highgarden by now.

So I think the plot to rid themselves of Targaryen rule began several years before the actual rebellion, and appears to be spearheaded by Hoster Tully.