Jump to content

What Would Robert Have Done Had He Acknowledged The Truth?


Three-Fingered Pete

Recommended Posts

I've found myself pondering this lately. Would Robert have upturned the Seven Kingdoms to out his incestuous wife and bastard children? Would he have suppressed the knowledge for the good of the realm? He would have been furious to be sure and would have stomped around the Red Keep in rage, but would he have let the news go public or try to handle the situation quietly? Or, possibly, not at all considering he was in debt up to his ears and was dependent on Lannister support to keep his seat? Would he have held his tongue just to spite Stannis? And just what would have Jon Arryn advised him to do?

So, what would it be? Personal pride or the "good" of the realm?

Honestly, I could see him acting petulantly and elevating one of his bastards and causing the War of Five Kings (or several in any case) anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think he would have suppressed the knowledge for the good of the realm. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he tried to kill Jaime and Cersei then and there. A part of him would probably be relieved that a vicious cunt like Joffrey didn't come from his loins. I could possibly see him legitimizing Edric Storm, but I think he would probably relish the thought of getting to marry a younger bride who isn't as big of a bitch as Cersei. The Tyrells would be throwing Margaery at her, but I could also see Robert wanting to marry Arya once she comes of age, since she looks so much like Lyanna and all. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, EloImFizzy said:

... but I could also see Robert wanting to marry Arya once she comes of age, since she looks so much like Lyanna and all. 

Well, there's an angle I certainly never considered. I wonder how Ned and Catelyn would have felt about that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've always thought that Robert would've just killed Jaime and Cersei and their children, but since you mentioned the Crown's debt and that he needs the Lannisters, I think maybe it would've turned out very differently;

I don't for a second think that Tywin would accept that Jaime and Cersei, his two golden children, would be killed for incest. It would be a stain on not just them, but house Lannister as a whole, and he would probably deny it to the end of his days. If he wouldn't start a war over it, he would want to make a few deals with Robert; Jaime would be made to exit the Kingsguard and be reestablished as the heir to Casterly Rock and he would probably still want Cersei to be married to Robert, but since they would now be seperated, Cersei would have to have Robert's children from then on.

I don't know what would be done to Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella. They can't be disinherited or killed off, as it would imply that the rumours are true and that's not something Tywin would want. If they were to be disinherited, it would be for a very vague reason and they would just be sent somewhere far away, maybe Essos, or be locked up in Casterly Rock, away from prying eyes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

His death 

Hed confront jamie himself still delusional that hes the robert of old and 2 handed jamie would kill him with ease 

Or hed be too heartbroken and try and raise the banners and have stannis cruah tywin...pycelle would never send the raven and jamie/hound  /lancel by suprose / pycelle with posion would  be his end...take your pick

Or he orders kg to arrest jame and the kids  , given their make up itd be barristan and oakheart vs jamie,trant and the hound  etc  

Either way hes utterly surrounded by lannisters and lannister loyalists so unless he reaches outside the bix and turns ro renly hes fecked!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, hodorisfaclessman said:

His death 

Hed confront jamie himself still delusional that hes the robert of old and 2 handed jamie would kill him with ease 

Or hed be too heartbroken and try and raise the banners and have stannis cruah tywin...pycelle would never send the raven and jamie/hound  /lancel by suprose / pycelle with posion would  be his end...take your pick

Or he orders kg to arrest jame and the kids  , given their make up itd be barristan and oakheart vs jamie,trant and the hound  etc  

Either way hes utterly surrounded by lannisters and lannister loyalists so unless he reaches outside the bix and turns ro renly hes fecked!

Robert may have been brash, but I don't think he would have gone against the Lannisters without getting his ducks in a row first. I'm assuming in this scenario that Jon Arryn successfully informed and convinced the King of the truth without the opposition knowing about it. We know what happened when they found out first.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, Trefayne said:

Well, there's an angle I certainly never considered. I wonder how Ned and Catelyn would have felt about that.

I doubt Ned would be very happy, since he would know that Robert was just using Arya as a substitute for Lyanna, who never loved him anyway. Catelyn's feelings are harder to place, I would like to think she wouldn't be happy and refuse the match, but she is a Southerner at heart, and would probably love to see her daughter as Queen. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 minutes ago, EloImFizzy said:

I doubt Ned would be very happy, since he would know that Robert was just using Arya as a substitute for Lyanna, who never loved him anyway.

Ned's reaction to the proposal would likely be very different before the start of aGoT and lets say a week into his Handship.

Also I'm not sure Robert would kill the kids. He does have more relation to them than he did to Elia's kids. Or he could go full The Mountain.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Vaedys Targaryen said:

I've always thought that Robert would've just killed Jaime and Cersei and their children, but since you mentioned the Crown's debt and that he needs the Lannisters, I think maybe it would've turned out very differently;

I don't for a second think that Tywin would accept that Jaime and Cersei, his two golden children, would be killed for incest. It would be a stain on not just them, but house Lannister as a whole, and he would probably deny it to the end of his days. If he wouldn't start a war over it, he would want to make a few deals with Robert; Jaime would be made to exit the Kingsguard and be reestablished as the heir to Casterly Rock and he would probably still want Cersei to be married to Robert, but since they would now be seperated, Cersei would have to have Robert's children from then on.

I don't know what would be done to Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella. They can't be disinherited or killed off, as it would imply that the rumours are true and that's not something Tywin would want. If they were to be disinherited, it would be for a very vague reason and they would just be sent somewhere far away, maybe Essos, or be locked up in Casterly Rock, away from prying eyes.

A fair assessment, in a rational Westeros, but we know several of our characters aren't known for their rationality.

Let's say they did go rational though. What would they do with Stannis? Remember that Jon Arryn may still be alive in this scenario since Littlefinger won't have the cover of the Lannisters wanting to hide the secret to protect his scheme of offing The Hand without anyone suspecting him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, Ylath's Snout said:

Ned's reaction to the proposal would likely be very different before the start of aGoT and lets say a week into his Handship.

Also I'm not sure Robert would kill the kids. He does have more relation to them than he did to Elia's kids. Or he could go full The Mountain.

I know that ASOIAF is a patriarchal society, but Ned saw first hand what destruction can happen from an unwanted marriage. Sansa, at least before AGoT, was a perfect little Southern flower, but being a Southern Queen was never Arya's role, she has no interest in ruling, running a household, or having children. If it wasn't for Catelyn I could see Ned letting Arya not get married, since he already has a daughter and three sons to marry off. 

Yeah I don't think he would kill "his" children either. I think he would probably have Joffrey and Tommen either sent to the Wall or the citadel, and I have no idea what he'd do with Myrcella, maybe send her to the silent sisters, or legitimize her as a Lannister or something. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Trefayne said:

Robert may have been brash, but I don't think he would have gone against the Lannisters without getting his ducks in a row first. I'm assuming in this scenario that Jon Arryn successfully informed and convinced the King of the truth without the opposition knowing about it. We know what happened when they found out first.

In that case  if its that far back then  stannis is still at court with his own personal retiune of knights  and he dont fuck around!! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Vaedys Targaryen said:

I've always thought that Robert would've just killed Jaime and Cersei and their children, but since you mentioned the Crown's debt and that he needs the Lannisters, I think maybe it would've turned out very differently;

I don't for a second think that Tywin would accept that Jaime and Cersei, his two golden children, would be killed for incest. It would be a stain on not just them, but house Lannister as a whole, and he would probably deny it to the end of his days. If he wouldn't start a war over it, he would want to make a few deals with Robert; Jaime would be made to exit the Kingsguard and be reestablished as the heir to Casterly Rock and he would probably still want Cersei to be married to Robert, but since they would now be seperated, Cersei would have to have Robert's children from then on.

I don't know what would be done to Joffrey, Tommen and Myrcella. They can't be disinherited or killed off, as it would imply that the rumours are true and that's not something Tywin would want. If they were to be disinherited, it would be for a very vague reason and they would just be sent somewhere far away, maybe Essos, or be locked up in Casterly Rock, away from prying eyes.

Money has never been high on roberts priorities  so i dont think hed care ...plus if hes going to war with the lannisters he may decide their debt is paid  ! Plus renly will ply margery on him and tryell gold will fill that gap in crown finaces anyway

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, hodorisfaclessman said:

In that case  if its that far back then  stannis is still at court with his own personal retiune of knights  and he dont fuck around!! 

True, but in typical Martin fashion he'd probably have Robert then declare Renly as his heir apparent and still have Stannis pissed off and rebellious.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Lotnik said:

I think he would just go out loud about this, since he is, you know, Robert, and would probably want to behead Cersei, but he could be stopped by someone if fear of Tywin's reaction. Don't know what he would do with her children though.

I dont think he fears tywins reaction esp if hes gonna announce to the ream he was cucked...he must seek out battle to restore his honour etc or be a laughing stock! 

Her kids he wouldnt kill ,i dont feel it would be in his character to murder in cold blood  ,he seemd to regret being pushed by the council to posion danys when talking to injured  ned.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, EloImFizzy said:

I know that ASOIAF is a patriarchal society, but Ned saw first hand what destruction can happen from an unwanted marriage.

Well, it is a fairly common idea among fans that all that Rhaegar + Lyanna biz was all about love and unhappy marriages or whatever but would Ned agree with that interpretation? If he felt that he needed the perfect matches for his children to live wouldn't he invest more time in looking up potential spouses and the like as opposed to ignoring it like he seems to in the the books?

Just now, EloImFizzy said:

If it wasn't for Catelyn I could see Ned letting Arya not get married, since he already has a daughter and three sons to marry off. 

No, I disagree. Both in the North and the Vale girls are expected to marry. Ned wasn't warded in Dorne ya know. Indulging your 9 years daughter fancies with some fencing practice isn't the same as signing up for tearing down the patriarchy.

10 minutes ago, EloImFizzy said:

I think he would probably have Joffrey and Tommen either sent to the Wall or the citadel

Would he even have to? They would be among the most disgraced people in Westeros at that point. Baseborn abominations, to use the local vernacular, are not going to be much of a threat. Despite whatever ideas Cersei might have had the Targs were special and nobody is going to accept Brother-Sister incest amongst non-Targs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Trefayne said:

True, but in typical Martin fashion he'd probably have Robert then declare Renly as his heir apparent and still have Stannis pissed off and rebellious.

If robert is still alive then stannis is just fine to follow orders  and grind his teeth ,thats juat how he is

Renly would be made heir and stannis sent with the crowns forces to the westerlands....stannis would be unleashed on casterly rock! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Ylath's Snout said:

Well, it is a fairly common idea among fans that all that Rhaegar + Lyanna biz was all about love and unhappy marriages or whatever but would Ned agree with that interpretation? If he felt that he needed the perfect matches for his children to live wouldn't he invest more time in looking up potential spouses and the like as opposed to ignoring it like he seems to in the the books?

Going by Ned's personality I feel like he would feel partly responsible for the Robert and Lyanna marriage. Due to this I feel like Ned would make sure that his children get a say in who they marry, or at the very least find the most compatible match possible. For Arya I think the perfect match would have been someone like Edric Dayne. 

8 minutes ago, Ylath's Snout said:

No, I disagree. Both in the North and the Vale girls are expected to marry. Ned wasn't warded in Dorne ya know. Indulging your 9 years daughter fancies with some fencing practice isn't the same as signing up for tearing down the patriarchy.

Sansa had no problem marrying someone, and I doubt Robb, Bran, and Rickon would've objected. Due to this Ned might not feel the need to force Arya into an unwanted marriage, since he already has four other children to marry off for political reasons. I mean hell Brienne was an only child, and her father let her do what she wanted. 

9 minutes ago, Ylath's Snout said:

Would he even have to? They would be among the most disgraced people in Westeros at that point. Baseborn abominations, to use the local vernacular, are not going to be much of a threat. Despite whatever ideas Cersei might have had the Targs were special and nobody is going to accept Brother-Sister incest amongst non-Targs.

I feel like unhappy or greedy Lords would be willing to back anyone if it meant getting into power. I know it isn't as extreme as this case, but half the realm backed Daemon Blackfyre for various reasons, some where unhappy with the Dornish influences in court, and some thought Daemon the rightful ruler because he was given a sword. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, hodorisfaclessman said:

If robert is still alive then stannis is just fine to follow orders  and grind his teeth ,thats juat how he is 

Perhaps. I've always had the impression that Stannis had just about come to the end of his rope concerning his brother. The incest rumor just gave him a good excuse, otherwise why leave KL before there was real proof and before Robert was dispatched?

Besides, without Robert's belief of the truth, it was Stannis who was in jeopardy in KL. And Mesilandre was exerting influence over Stannis. She must have had something to do with him holing up in Dragonstone. He may have been a zealot regardless.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...