House Tully

Template:Noble house

"'Family, Duty, Honor.' Every Tully child learns our words. But I was a woman before I understood them."

―Catelyn Tully

House Tully of Riverrun is an exiled Great House of Westeros. Its most senior member carried the title of Lord of Riverrun and Lord Paramount of the Trident, until the Red Wedding. The current head is Lord Edmure Tully, son of the late Hoster Tully. The Tully sigil is a silver trout on a red and blue background. Their motto is "Family, Duty, Honor."

At the onset of the War of the Five Kings, House Tully came under attack by House Lannister and lent its support for House Stark when they came to their aid in the liberation of the Riverlands. House Tully has since been formally stripped of lands and titles for rebellion against the Iron Throne, with Lord Edmure a captive of House Frey following the Red Wedding. 

Later, Ser Brynden Tully gathered the remaining Tully forces and reclaimed Riverrun from the Freys, reopening conflict between the Tullys and the Iron Throne. The Freys lay siege to Riverrun, and were later assisted by the Lannisters on the orders of King Tommen I. Ser Jaime Lannister managed to end the siege by convincing Edmure Tully to command the garrison to lay down their weapons in return for clemency and protection. Brynden was killed during a final stand with Lannister and Frey forces while Edmure was returned to the Freys as a prisoner.

History

Background

House Tully is one of the Great Houses of Westeros. Their lands are to the west of the continent. Their seat is Riverrun, a castle at the confluence of the Red Fork of the Trident with the Tumblestone. They rule over the Riverlands from the castle and the head of the house is the Lord of Riverrun.

House Tully rose to prominence during the Wars of Conquest. Lord Edmyn Tully rebelled against the King of the Isles and the Riverlands, Harren the Black, to support the invading House Targaryen. Edmyn's fellow Riverlords followed his lead. When Aegon Targaryen established his rule from the Iron Throne he rewarded Edmyn, elevating the Tullys to Lords Paramount of the Riverlands.

House Tully fought on the side of the Iron Throne during the War of the Ninepenny Kings. Hoster Tully and Brynden Tully fought during the conflict. The two brothers later parted on acrimonious terms after Brynden rejected his older brother's command that he marry Bethany Redwyne in order to seal a marriage pact with House Redwyne. Brynden broke ties with Hoster, earning the name "Blackfish", which also became his personal sigil. Hoster later married Lady Minisa of House Whent and they produced three children: two daughters Catelyn, Lysa, and a son named Edmure.

Its current head is Lord Edmure Tully. His sisters, Catelyn and Lysa, married Lords Eddard Stark and Jon Arryn during Robert's Rebellion, forming a powerful alliance of major houses. Together, the Tully-Stark-Arryn alliance defeated the "Mad King" Aerys II and ended Targaryen rule over the Seven Kingdoms.

Season 1

After Lady Catelyn Stark seizes Tyrion Lannister at the Inn at the Crossroads, the Lord of Casterly Rock Tywin Lannister sends his bannermen Gregor Clegane to raid and pillage the Riverlands as a rebuff to the Tullys. Gregor's men burn many villages and kill and brutalize many of the smallfolk. As a parting message to the Tullys, Gregor's men also leave behind a bag of rotten trout, the sigil of House Tully, the house of his wife Catelyn. Several surviving smallfolk petition Lord Eddard Stark, the Hand of the King, for justice.

During the War of the Five Kings, a Lannister host under Ser Jaime Lannister lays siege to the Tully seat of Riverrun. Northern forces under Eddard's son Lord Robb Stark lure Jaime's forces away from Riverrun and defeat them during the Battle of the Whispering Wood; taking Jaime captive as well. Due to their marriage alliance with the Starks, the Tullys join several northern houses in proclaiming Robb the King in the North.

Season 3

Several Riverland prisoners are among the captives slain by Ser Gregor Clegane prior to the Lannister evacuation of Harrenhal. Among the slain are Jaremy Mallister, a loyal bannermen of the Tullys. Following the death of Lord Hoster Tully, his daughter Catelyn, son and heir Edmure, and brother Brynden congregate at Riverrun for the funeral. Per Tully tradition, Hoster is laid to rest on a funeral boat which is then set afloat. Edmure tries to set the boat aflame with a flaming arrow per tradition but misses several times. His uncle Brynden then carries out his nephew's duty instead.

Edmure and Brynden later confer with King Robb about the progress of their war against the Iron Throne. The tide of the war is not going well for the Stark-Tully alliance; the Lannisters have rebuffed Stannis Baratheon's invasion of King's Landing and secured a marriage alliance with House Tyrell of the Reach. The Lannisters now have superior numbers, resources, and wealth. Edmure speaks of the recent Tully victory at the Stone Mill which saw the expulsion of Gregor Clegane's forces from the Riverlands and the capture of two Lannister squires Martyn and Willem Lannister. King Robb however is displeased with Edmure's actions since this interfered with his plan to trap Gregor in the Riverlands. The loss of 200 Tully men at the Stone Mill is also a blow to the depleted Stark-Tully forces.

Edmure and Brynden stand by their liege King Robb when he deals with the murder of Willem and Martyn at the hands of another bannerman Rickard Karstark, the Lord of Karhold. Brynden strikes Rickard on the cheek when he insults Robb. Later, Edmure counsels Robb to bury the Lannister squires' bodies and quietly hush up their deaths. However, Robb insists that he will tell the Lannisters the truth and publicly executes Rickard as punishment for murdering the two squires. Robb's actions cost the Stark-Tully alliance the support of the Karstarks, who leave Riverrun and return to the North in protest.

Short on manpower, the Starks and Tullys are forced to repair their strained relationship with House Frey, a vassal of the Tullys. Robb had reneged on his earlier vow to marry a daughter of Lord Walder Frey, the head of House Frey and the Lord of the Crossing. The Frey emissaries Black Walder and Lothar Frey exact several demands including the forfeiture of Harrenhal and all its lands and incomes, and that Lord Edmure marry his daughter Roslin Frey. Despite some reluctance and misgivings, the Tullys and Starks accept the Freys' terms.

Lord Edmure, Lord Brynden, and Lady Stark accompany King Robb and the combined Stark and Tully hosts to the Frey seat at the Twins, a strategically-placed castle which bridges the Green Fork. Edmure marries Roslin in the halls of The Twins. Following the bedding ceremony, the newly-wed couple are whisked away. Lord Walder Frey then turns on his Tully and Stark guests by having his sons and men massacre the wedding guests. Lady Stark, her son Robb, and his wife Talisa Stark are murdered. Meanwhile, the Tully and Stark forces outside are slaughtered by their Frey hosts. The Freys are aided by Lord Roose Bolton, the head of House Bolton, who has abandoned his alliance to King Robb.

Due to the "Red Wedding", the Freys capture Lord Edmure, the Lord of Riverrun. As a reward for his actions, Lord Walder Frey is granted lordship over the Tully seat of Riverrun and paramountcy over the Riverlands by the Iron Throne. However, the Frey victory is soured by the revelation that Lord Brynden has escaped the bloodbath.

Season 4

While traveling through the Riverlands, Catelyn's younger daughter Arya Stark convinces her captor/protector Sandor Clegane to tell a local farmer that he had fought for the Tullys during the War for the Five Kings. Holding the Tullys in high regard, the farmer allows the pair to board and lodge at his house for the night. Over dinner table conversation, Arya and Sandor learned that the Riverlands have disintegrated into a state of lawlessness after the Freys were granted paramountcy over the region. The farmer longs for the "good old days" when the Tullys were in charge since they kept the Riverlands safe and secure.

Lysa Arryn, the second daughter of the late Lord Hoster, is murdered by her husband Petyr Baelish, who throws her out of the Moon Door in The Eyrie. Catelyn's older daughter Sansa Stark convinces the lords of Vale that Lysa committed suicide, saving Petyr from punishment.

Season 6

After the Red Wedding saw the capture of Lord Edmure Tully and the granting of Riverrun to House Frey, only Lord Tully's uncle Brynden the 'Blackfish' remained at large. Although Walder Frey had dismissed Roose Bolton's concerns about his escape after the massacre, the Blackfish proved a challenge to the Freys' newly acquired control over the Riverlands. He assembled what remained of the Tully armies still loyal to his House, and was able to retake Riverrun from the Freys, challenging both them and the Lannisters who supported them.

Lord Petyr Baelish told Sansa Stark, a Tully kinsman by her mother Catelyn, of Brynden's actions as she was looking for supporters to help her and her brother Jon Snow overthrow House Bolton. Sansa sent her bodyguard Brienne of Tarth to Riverrun to meet with her great-uncle and gain his support in reclaiming the North.

News of the Blackfish's recapture of Riverrun infuriates Lord Walder Frey, who chastises his sons Lothar and Black Walder for letting Brynden escape the Red Wedding. In an attempt to force Brynden to surrender, Lord Frey orders his sons to bring his captive nephew Edmure to Riverrun as a hostage. The Freys besiege Riverrun and force Edmure to wear a noose during the siege. Lothar and Black Walder threaten to kill Edmure but Brynden is not intimidated by their antics; knowing that they will not carry out their threats. The Freys are relieved by Lannister forces under a Ser Jaime Lannister, who has come on behalf of the Iron Throne to take control of the siege.

Jaime also orders the Freys to wash and feed the dishevelled Edmure. When Black Walder protests, Jaime strikes him across the face and warns him that he is now in command of the siege of Riverrun. Jaime later parleys with the Blackfish in an attempt to end the siege peacefully. Jaime offers to spare the life of his men but warns that the Lannisters will slaughter everyone inside the castle. Undaunted, Brynden tells Jaime that Riverrun has enough food to last two years and thousands of Lannisters will die for the hundreds inside his walls. Unimpressed by Jaime, Brynden rejects his terms.

With Jaime's consent, Brienne attempts to convince the Blackfish to evacuate the castle. Jaime has agreed to allow Brynden and the garrison to vacate the castle by nightfall in order to aid Sansa and Jon against the Boltons. Unwilling to abandon his home and lacking the manpower to help the Starks, the Blackfish declines Brienne and Jaime's offer. Running out of options, Jaime convinces Edmure to command the garrison to surrender in return for clemency and his son getting a proper education at Casterly Rock, the Lannister seat. As an added incentive, Jaime threatens to destroy the entire castle and to catapult Edmure's son over the wall should he decline the ultimatum. With little choice, Edmure consents to this deal.

Edmure returns to Riverrun and gains admission into the castle despite Brynden's objections. Once inside, the garrison recognizes Edmure as the rightful Lord of Riverrun. Edmure then orders the Tully troops to surrender and allow Lannister and Frey forces to occupy the castle. He also gives orders for his uncle to be put into chains and handed over to the Freys. However, Brynden helps Brienne and Podrick escape the castle on a boat and then makes a final stand against the Lannisters and Freys. Ser Jaime is informed of the Blackfish's death. Shortly thereafter, however, Edmure's niece Arya Stark avenges the Starks and Tullys by murdering Walder Frey and his sons, Lothar and Black Walder.

Relationships

Members

• Lord {Hoster Tully}, Lord of Riverrun and Lord Paramount of the Riverlands. Deceased after a long sickness.
  • Lady {Minisa}, his wife of House Whent. Died in childbirth.
    • Lady {Catelyn}, their eldest daughter and widow of Lord {Eddard Stark}. Murdered at the Red Wedding by Black Walder Rivers.
    • Lady {Lysa}, their youngest daughter and widow of Lord {Jon Arryn}. Lady Regent of the Eyrie until she is killed by Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish.
    • Lord Edmure Tully, their only son and heir, former Lord of Riverrun and Lord Paramount of the Riverlands. Currently a hostage of House Frey and stripped of his lands and titles.
      • Lady Roslin, his wife of House Frey. Status unknown.
        • Their infant son and heir, conceived on their wedding night. His name has yet to be revealed.
• Ser {Brynden Tully}, called "the Blackfish," Hoster's younger brother. The former de facto Lord of Riverrun after recapturing it from the Freys, and the former de facto head of House Tully. Killed by Lannister and Frey soldiers during his last stand.

Sworn to House Tully

• House Blackwood of Raventree Hall.
• House Bracken of Stone Hedge.
• {House Darry} of Darry, presumed extinct.
• House Frey of the Twins, now also Lords of Riverrun. (Formerly, betrayed at Red Wedding)
  • House Erenford, sworn to House Frey.
  • House Haigh, sworn to House Frey
• House Mallister of Seagard.
• House Mooton of Maidenpool.
• House Smallwood of Acorn Hall.
• House Whent of Harrenhal, currently in exile, possibly extinct.
  • House Wode, sworn to House Whent. 

Vassals and allies

• Lord {Walder Frey}, called "the Late Lord Frey", Lord of the Crossing and Lord of Riverrun. Betrayer and orchestrator of the Red Wedding. Killed by Arya Stark.
• Lord Jonos Bracken, Lord of Stone Hedge.
• Lord Jason Mallister, Lord of Seagard.
• Lady Shella Whent, Lady of Harrenhal, possibly deceased.

Gallery

The sigil of House Tully from the Maester's Path promotional campaign

HBO viewer's guide icon for House Tully.

House Tully's sigil in black and white from the HBO viewer's guide.

A shield emblazoned with the sigil of House Tully from the HBO viewer's guide.

Tully-small.png

Small icon of House Tully from the HBO viewers guide.

The banner of House Tully at the Tourney of the Hand in "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things".

Tully men-at-arms in Riverrun.

Family tree

Template:House Tully family tree

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, House Tully is an old house which has held the castle at Riverrun for some centuries, but did not rise to greatness until King Aegon I's invasion. Aegon drove the ironborn out of the Riverlands and appointed Lord Edmyn Tully as the overlord of the area in thanks for his support during the Conquest. The Tullys joined the Starks, Baratheons and Arryns in rising against the Mad King, providing numerous troops for Robert Baratheon's armies.

The Tully banner is different in the books than in the series. In the TV series, it is striped horizontally, with one large red section and one large blue section, separated by white stripes. In the novels it has five vertical stripes of equal width; two muddy-red stripes separate three blue stripes (and there are no white stripes).

In a somewhat unusual in-joke, The World of Ice and Fire reveals that Tullys active during the Dance of the Dragons are named after Muppets, namely Lord Grover Tully, his grandson Ser Elmo Tully, and his son Lord Kermit Tully.

The following sworn houses have yet to appear in the series:

• House Piper of Pinkmaiden
• House Ryger of Willow Wood
• House Vance of Wayfarer's Rest
• House Vance of Atranta
• House Paege

See also

• House Tully on A Wiki of Ice and Fire (MAJOR spoilers from the books)

References

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