Robert Baratheon

Appearances

Template:Season One Appearances

Image gallery

Robert arrives in Winterfell in "Winter is Coming".

Robert is unable to fit into his armor in "Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things".

Robert and Cersei visit the wounded Eddard in "A Golden Crown".

Robert signs his final proclamation in "You Win or You Die".

Robert Baratheon costume on display at Wondercon 2011.

Promotional poster of King Robert.

Family tree

Template:House Baratheon family tree

Bastards

Robert Baratheon is rumored to have fathered over a dozen bastard children over the years. In her youth Cersei visited a woods witch who foretold that she would have three children (Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen), while Robert would have "twenty" (though it isn't clear if she meant exactly, or was using the number broadly). Those bastards who have been introduced in the TV series so far include:

• Gendry - adolescent armorer's apprentice in King's Landing. Mother was a tavern wench.
• {Barra} - infant in King's Landing. Mother was Mhaegen, a prostitute. Killed in Joffrey's purge.
• Several other bastard children killed in Joffrey's purge, including a second infant, two brothers, and one child.

Template:Robert Baratheon's bastards tree

Quotes

"I'm not trying to honor you. I'm trying to get you to run my kingdom while I eat, drink, and whore my way to an early grave."

―Robert Baratheon to Eddard Stark

"Honor? I've got Seven Kingdoms to rule! One king, Seven Kingdoms! Do you think honor keeps them in line? Do you think it's honor that's keeping the peace? It's fear! Fear and blood!"

―Robert Baratheon at the small council meeting about Daenerys Targaryen

Cersei: "I shall wear this as a badge of honor."

Robert: "Wear it in silence or I'll honor you again."

— Cersei Lannister and Robert Baratheon

"King Robert Baratheon, murdered by a pig."

―Robert Baratheon

Behind the scenes

• On the Season 1 Blu-ray, Robert narrates Complete Guide to Westeros videos on "Mad King Aerys", "Robert's Rebellion" and "The Sack of King's Landing".

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Robert is in his mid-thirties when the events of the books begin. He is jovial and fun-loving, fond of battle, women and drink. As a young man Robert was a formidable warrior, noted for his chivalry, sense of honor and immense charisma. He won several loyal Targaryen bannermen to his cause through strength of personality alone. Very tall and incredibly muscular, Robert was considered one of the most attractive men in Westeros, desired by every maiden in the realm. However, after becoming king, Robert let himself go somewhat, becoming fat, soft and indolent, though still capable of great generosity to his friends. Robert has also become more bitter following Lyanna's death and his unhappy marriage to Cersei, despite their multiple children.

Bastards

Robert is rumored to have fathered over a dozen bastard children over the years, though exactly how many he has is unknown even to Robert. Cersei once visited a maegi in her youth who predicted that Cersei would have three children (Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen) and that Robert would have sixteen - the prophecy about Cersei's children turned out to be true, but it is unknown if the prophecy about Robert's children turned out to be accurate. Robert had a voracious sexual appetite since he was a teenager, however, and he had sex with innumerable whores and servant girls for over twenty years before his death, so tracking down all of his bastards would be an exceedingly difficult task. Varys himself can confirm of at least eight bastard children which Robert fathered over the years.

• Robert's only acknowledged bastard is Edric Storm, whom he acknowledged because his mother was not a commoner but a noblewoman from House Florent- Delena Florent, Selyses' cousin. Robert acknowledged the boy but Cersei would have been furious if he raised him in his own home, so he sent Edric away to be fostered at Storm's End his whole life. Edric had virtually no contact with Robert: Edric would receive nameday presents every year (a pony one year, a sable cloak the next, and once even a miniature warhammer similar to the one Robert used) and write thank-you letters to Robert for them, but they were actually sent by Varys without Robert's input at all. When reading those letters, Robert would laugh and ask Varys what he sent that year. Edric bears amazing resemblance to his father; when Davos Seaworth first met Edric, he immediately concluded the youth is a bastard of Robert. Stannis resents Edric because the youth's presence is a constant reminder to him how Robert violated his wedding bed (similarly to Catelyn Stark's feelings toward Jon Snow), but allows him to spend time with Shireen. Although Selyse and Melisandre urged Stannis to sacrifice Edric (in the TV series he was switched with Gendry), Stannis was not thrilled about killing his nephew, and was not overly furious when it was revealed that Davos sent him away.

• Another confirmed bastard is Mya Stone, the eldest of Robert's bastards. She is nineteen years old. Robert fathered her in the Vale while he was fostering there with Eddard Stark, a few years before he led the rebellion against King Aerys Targaryen (thus she is apparently the oldest of his bastards, in her late teens/early twenties). Mya was not officially acknowledged by Robert, but her existence is considered to be an open secret. Robert knew her when she was a toddler but he left her behind when he became king; once during a heated argument over Robert's disappointment regarding Joffrey, Robert threatened to punish Cersei by bringing a bastard daughter of his to be raised in the Red Keep (the name of the girl in question is not mentioned, but it's likely to be Mya), and Cersei responded "Do as you please, but you may find that the city is not a healthy place for a growing girl" - bluntly implying that she would harm the girl; Robert angrily punched Cersei, but knowing that she truly meant this threat, he backed down. Thus while Mya has not been officially, legally acknowledged as Robert's bastard, her status as his daughter is such public knowledge that she uses the special bastard surname "Stone" - without complaint by others that Robert technically never officially gave her the right to use the name "Stone". Mya works as a pack mule guide along the treacherous mountain path leading to the Eyrie, and is encountered by Catelyn Stark when she brings Tyrion Lannister to the Eyrie to hold prisoner at her sister Lysa's court.

• In the books, Barra was the only of Robert's bastards who was reported to be killed at Cersei's command following his death. She was explicitly killed on Cersei's orders, not on Joffrey's as in the TV series.

• Petyr Baelish also told Eddard Stark that some years earlier Robert fathered bastard twins with a serving woman at Casterly Rock, and that Cersei had both children killed. Ned was surprised that Robert would have stood by and let such a thing happen, but then recalled that Robert seemed to have grown adept at shutting his eyes. It is unknown if the story is true.

Robert never cared much about his bastards. According to Stannis, he liked the making of children well enough, but after birth they were a bother to him.

Gendry, Edric Storm, Mya Stone, plus the deceased Barra and twins at Casterly Rock only account for six bastards, however, when Varys said he knew of at least eight. When Arya Stark and Gendry first encounter the Brotherhood Without Banners in the Riverlands, they pass through the town of Stoney Sept, where they encounter a dark-haired prostitute named Bella who claims to be a bastard of Robert. Bella states that she is the daughter of a prostitute that Robert had sex with as he was passing through the town during the Battle of the Bells, and that she was named "Bella" for the battle. She does generally resemble Robert and her age matches her story of when Robert would have had sex with her mother, but her claim cannot be definitely confirmed.

The TV series has not introduced any other bastards besides Gendry, even going so far as to combine parts of Edric Storm's storyline - being taken to Dragonstone - with Gendry's storyline in Season 3. It is unclear if the TV series means to imply that Gendry is Robert's only surviving bastard, but either way the focus given to Gendry is much greater in the TV continuity.

See also

• Robert Baratheon on A Wiki of Ice and Fire (MAJOR spoilers for the series)

References

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