The Westerlands: Legacies Carved in Gold – The Lannisters and Their Vassal Houses

Welcome to another episode of The Westerosi Primer. My name is Liz. And in this episode, I will be talking about the Westerlands. I’ll be discussing some of the notable people, places, and historical events that happened in the richest kingdom in Westeros.

Before I start the discussion, there are a couple of things to note. First there will be some potential spoilers for people who have not read the novels in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” saga. There may also be potential spoilers for House of the Dragon and other future shows that may be adapted by Max in the future. So if you’re okay with this, then please continue listening.

Second, this will not be a definitive episode of everything about the Westerlands as there really is a lot of information about all the notable houses mentioned in the novels and the additional information written by George R. R. Martin and collected by various fans including the contributors of Westeros.org.

Throughout this season of the Westerosi Primer, I will be using information gathered from the novel series, Westeros.org, The World of Ice and Fire, and The Lands of Ice and Fire. Check out the full show notes and other links located on this show’s website: thewesterosiprimer.com With that said, let’s begin!

The Westerlands, as the name suggests, is located on the western part of the continent. To the west is the Sunset Sea and the Iron Islands. The general geography of this kingdom has rugged hills, plains, fertile farmland and forest. There are many castles on the coast, a few of which I’ll be talking about shortly. The rivers called Tumblestone and Red Fork start in the Westerlands and flows into the Riverlands. A castle called the Golden Tooth guards the eastern part of the Westerlands. It also controls access to the River Road, which leads to Riverrun. The Goldroad runs from Lannisport to King’s Landing. The city of Lannisport is considered one of the five cities of Westeros. As the name suggests, this city is named after house Lannister. So let’s begin our introduction to Westerlander nobles with the former royal family.

House Lannister of Casterly Rock was once the royal family ruling the Westerlands. We know a few things about them from the TV shows and the novels. Their sigil is a golden lion on a red background. Of course it is a coincidence that another fantasy series involving a boy wizard features a similar sigil. Their house words are appropriately enough “Hear me roar.” Yet the more commonly used saying about this house is of course, “A Lannister always pays his debts.”

Similar to the Reach and the North, there are some interesting legends about this house’s origin. As you could probably guess from the name, Casterly Rock was once the home of House Casterly. One legend said during the Age of Heroes, a man known as Lann the Clever tricked the original owners of their home. I won’t discuss too deeply into variations of exactly how Lann did his trickery. I will link it in the show notes. Lann was described as being golden haired and later his descendants possessed the name Lannister.

Regardless of the truth, all that we know is that House Lannister appears to be First Men in origin. In later generations, a branch of house Lannister developed the nearby city of Lannisport. In a similar situation to the Starks in the North, the Lannisters defeated other houses to gain their position as the ruling house in the Westerlands. Like in the other regions of Westeros, the First Men in the Westerlands fought against the invasion of the Andals. However over time, the Lannisters started to marry Andals to the point where they consider themselves more as Andals while keeping a First Men name.

One interesting fact that at one point in time there was a Lannister Queen of the Iron Islands. I’ll discuss this a bit more in the Iron Islands episode, but the Iron Islands periodically vote for their king in a kingsmoot unlike the rest of the Westerlands. Those of you who watched Game of Thrones will remember this was shown when Yara tried to claim the throne when Euron Greyjoy showed up. Before the Greyjoys became the rulers of the Iron Islands, House Hoare ruled as kings of the Iron Islands. Again I’ll be discussing about these houses further in the Iron Islands episode.

Leila Lannister was married to King Harmund Hoare II, who had been a ward of House Lannister for a few years. She brought the Faith of the Seven to the Iron Islands. Her elder son, King Harmund III, was also a follower of the New Gods. However they faced a rebellion led by the priests of the Drowned god. Leila’s younger son became king. King Hagon allowed the head priest Shrike to mutilate her face before sending her back to Casterly Rock. Her nephew was the current King of the Rock and sought vengeance on her behalf. An invasion of the Westerlands resulted in the execution of Hagon. Ser Aubrey Crakehall was the leader of the invasion force. Ser Aubrey temporarily became king of the Iron Islands until he was overthrown.

At one point in time, House Lannister had a Valyrian steel sword called Brightroar. It was later lost when King Tommen II went on his ill-fated expedition to Valyria and never returned. Tywin Lannister clearly wishes his house would have a Valyrian sword again. We see this based on what he does with House Stark’s sword, Ice.

Eventually House Lannister lost its place as the kings of the Westerlands when the Targaryens invaded. They had joined the Gardeners in a battle that later became known as the Field of Fire. Unlike the Gardeners, King Loren I didn’t die in the battle and chose to surrender. His decision meant that his house would survive and they maintained their status as the ruling Lord Paramount.

Similar to the Starks in the North, there are many Lannisters throughtout Westerosi history. I already mentioned a few and we have seen other important members in House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones. On a side note, Lord Jason Lannister is the lord Lannister during the Dance of the Dragons as we see in House of the Dragon. As noted in the book, Fire & Blood, as well as Westeros.org, Lord Jason has many daughters and one son. It’s likely the Lannisters alive during the events of A Song of Ice and Fire descend from the son, Loreon Lannister. However it’s not 100% clear since we don’t have an extensive, definitive Lannister family tree.

House Lannister actually has a number of family members that were for obvious reason excluded from the TV show. I won’t spend an extensive amount of time talking about all of the “missing” members. But I will mention a few interesting ones. I have a suspicion that in The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, there will be some differences in how this house fares.

Tywin is the oldest of his siblings. We know a great deal about Tywin already, but I’ll mention a few things not discussed in the tv show. I could honestly do a whole character essay type episode about this man. He’s pretty well known for his ruthlessness. It’s my personal theory that part of his ruthlessness is because of daddy issues. He’s compensating for the fact his father Tytos was the complete opposite. Tytos was a people pleasing pushover.

We did see one of his brothers in the TV show, Kevan Lannister. Kevan is a loyal brother and acts as Tywin’s lieutenant. Kevan has four children, three sons and one daughter. We actually met one of his sons, Lancel. If you’ll recall he’s King Robert’s squire who is also one of Cersei’s lovers. In case you didn’t realize that, yes she was having an affair with her first cousin. Of course he joins the Sparrows and turns on his family later.

Tywin’s one and only sister is Genna. For some reason, Tytos Lannister arranged a marriage for her to one of Walder Frey’s sons. This honestly is kind of a shame because she’s a highly intelligent woman. Jaime certainly respects his aunt and her smarts enough to include her in meetings for her advice.

The other two brothers are deceased before the events of Game of Thrones: Tygett and Gerion. Tygett was married to a lady who from House Marbrand. Gerion was a favorite uncle of Tyrion’s and tragically disappears after heading to Valyria to find the missing Brightroar.

As I also mentioned in previous episodes, if you’re interested in me doing episodes more in-depth about any of these characters, send a message to me!

As I mentioned a member of House Crakehall during my discussion of Leila Lannister, let’s discuss his original house. House Crakehall of Crakehall control an area located along the Ocean Road between the Sunset Sea and a large forest. The Crakehalls are First Men in origin. Their legendary progenitor is a man known as Crake the Boarkiller. This not only explains the origin of their house name, but their sigil a black and white boar on a brown background. 

House Crakehall of course has participated in past events. There are a few Crakehalls mentioned by name including one of Walder Frey’s many wives. Aside from Ser Aubrey Crakehall’s invasion of the Iron Islands, there’s a couple others I’ll mention by name here. As a young squire, Jaime Lannister served Lord Sumner Crakehall. Throughout different events in the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Ser Lyle Crakehall participated in various events and battles under House Lannister’s command.

House Lefford of the Golden Tooth is a noble house of the Westerlands. Their castle, Golden Tooth, is the gateway to entering the Westerlands from the east via the Riverlands. As you would imagine, this castle has important strategic value. This comes up a few times in Westerosi history when wars affecting the Westerlands and Riverlands happen. This house was formed between the marriage of an Andal warlord and a noblewoman from a First Men family. The Leffords were given the Golden Tooth sometime after King Cerion Lannister conquered the region.

There’s only three Leffords I’ll mention here. Lord Humfrey Lefford was a commander during the Dance of the Dragons. Naturally like most of the Westermen, he sided with the Greens. During the events of the War of the Five Kings, Lord Leo Lefford joined the Lannisters against the other rival kings. At the end of book 5, the head of House Lefford is Leo’s daughter, Alysanne, because he died during the battle of the Fords.

House Clegane is a knightly house sworn directly to House Lannister. Of course we’re fairly familiar with this house in Game of Thrones. We learned some things about this family, but in case you forgot, I’ll talk about them now. I’ll even include some details not mentioned in the TV show.  The house started very recently compared to most of the houses. The house started when a kennelmaster at Casterly Rock saved Lord Tytos Lannister from a lioness. In return for his rescue, the man was rewarded lands and a towerhouse. This of course explains the chosen sigil, three black dogs on a yellow background.

The kennelmaster’s son was chosen to be Lord Tytos’s squire and was knighted. Years later the unnamed Ser Clegane would have three children: an unnamed daughter, and two sons named Gregor and Sandor. It’s noted that later Ser Clegane would die during a hunting accident. His daughter would also die young from an explained circumstance. There are rumors that Gregor was involved in both, which Sandor also says in the TV show. We already learned a lot about the two brothers in the TV series and the novels. Again if you’re interested in me doing an episode about them in a future season, let me know. I will say one of the bittersweet facts is that Rhaegar Targaryen was the one who knighted Gregor Clegane only for that monster to murder the prince’s wife and children later.

House Marbrand of Ashemark is another noble of the Westerlands. I’m only briefly mentioning them here in this episode mainly because they do participate in different events in Westerosi history. As I mentioned earlier Tygett Lannister married a Marbrand. Also Addam Marbrand is one of Jaime’s childhood friends. He spent his childhood as a page at Casterly Rock.

House Westerling of the Crag is another noble house of the Westerlands. They are a First Men house in origin. There were occasions when members of this family married Lannister kings. There are a few notable Westerlings. Lady Jeyne Westerling was one of King Maegor I’s Black Brides. I’ll consider doing an episode discussing this particular king who is also known as Maegor the Cruel. If you’re interested, let me know.

Ser Harold Westerling is a member of the Kingsguard and becomes Lord Commander during Viserys I’s reign. House of the Dragon viewers will recognize him as being portrayed by Graham McTavish. A major difference between Game of Thrones and the novels is the fact that Robb Stark married another  Lady Jeyne Westerling instead of Talisa.

Changing the identity of Robb’s wife would still cause the Red Wedding. However I think Talisa was kind of thrown into the TV show out of nowhere. If anything you kind of lose out on extra scheming by having Robb’s wife being a foreigner rather than from an enemy house. Robb does the trope of falling in love with the wrong girl. In the books, he marries Jeyne because he had a one-night stand and wanted to save her from dishonor. If you’re interested in my doing a compare and contrast of the tv show vs. the books in a future season, let me know.

I’ll end this episode with House Payne. The reason why I mention them is that in Game of Thrones we meet two members of this house. Ser Ilyn Payne is the scary, mute knight who acts as executioner for King Robert and later King Joffrey. As we know, he later executes Ned Stark in the show.

Interesting thing to note is that we only see Ser Ilyn Payne in a handful of episodes. However he shows up a number of times in the novels. This was because the actor who portrayed the character was diagnosed with cancer and couldn’t continue. Considering the character is a very minor character, the show worked around this. In fact some of the plot points that were Ser Ilyn’s in the books were given to Bronn. Bronn is a fan favorite and actually has a way bigger role in the tv show than in the books.

The other character from House Payne is our favorite squire Podrick Payne. He really is a likable comedy relief in a very grim fantasy series.

And that just about covers the basics of whose who in the Westerlands. If you’re interested in finding out more for yourself about any of these houses and other people and places I didn’t discuss in this episode, feel free to go to the full show notes where I will have links. Though be aware if you do any of this research there will be spoilers to the novels and some possible material covered in the future seasons of House of the Dragon.

Thank you for listening and tune in to the next episode where we travel to a kingdom famous for its heat, spices and people who remain unbent, unbowed, unbroken.