How Lyonel Baratheon Is Related to Robert Baratheon: Game of Thrones Family Tree Explained

Daniel Ings’ Lyonel Baratheon is an immediate standout in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, but what’s his connection to the Baratheons of Game of Thrones? The family was one of the most important in Thrones, especially its early seasons. Robert Baratheon was king when the show started, and his death in Season 1 plunged the realm into chaos and war. Both of his brothers, Renly and Stannis, laid claim to the Iron Throne as part of the War of the Five Kings, one of the defining storylines of the series.

Ser Lyonel does not boast such lofty ambitions in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1. Instead, he’s more content with drinking, dancing, and fighting in the tourney, which is the reason he’s in Ashford Meadow. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms expands Lyonel’s role from books, especially with that incredible dance sequence he has with Dunk, while staying true to the character: he’s fun, but also formidable. All of that, in truth, is quite similar to his descendent who will take the crown, Robert.

Lyonel Baratheon Is (Probably) Robert Baratheon’s Great-Grandfather

Lyonel’s exact position in the Baratheon family tree hasn’t been made clear by George R.R. Martin, but we can make a pretty educated guess at things. At the time of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, he’s the heir to Storm’s End, and will later become the head of House Baratheon. His own heir is Ormund Baratheon: his relationship to Lyonel isn’t made explicit, but it’s fair to assume that’s his son. Another possible option, though, is that Ormund is his grandson, as the only child we know Lyonel has is a daughter.

What else we do know for certain that Ormund is Robert’s grandfather. This makes it very likely that Lyonel is the great-grandfather of Robert, Stannis, and Renly, though he could be their great-great grandfather instead. He rules at Storm’s End until somewhere around 239-245 AC, with Robert being born in 262 AC, so unfortunately they never met, whatever their relationship was. In the most simple terms, though, it runs like this:

It’s also very easy to see the resemblance between them. The Robert we meet in Game of Thrones has been changed by his years ruling the Seven Kingdoms, but he has no real taste for being king: he wants to drink, and to fight, and the way Lyonel behaves is very reminiscent of how you’d imagine a younger Robert acting as well. Bobby B, of course, famously leads a rebellion against the Mad King, which is how he takes the Iron Throne. Lyonel also leads a rebellion against the crown many years after we first meet him, albeit a much smaller, far less successful one.

Warning: SPOILERS for the books and Dunk’s future after the TV show from this point on.

Around 20 years after A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1, Lyonel’s daughter was betrothed to marry Prince Duncan Targaryen, then the heir to the Iron Throne. However, Duncan fell in love and chose to marry someone else – the lowborn Jenny of Oldstones, whom Podrick Payne sings about in the Game of Thrones Season 8 episode that shares its title with the prequel, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.” Lyonel took this as a major slight, and, though Prince Duncan abdicated, he waged rebellion, declaring himself the Storm King.

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The rebellion was short-lived, though still bloody enough. It actually ended with a trial by combat, in which Lyonel fought against, and lost to, none other than his old drinking and dancing buddy Ser Duncan the Tall, who was a member of the Kingsguard by that point (he really moves up in the world). Following this, Princess Rhaelle Targaryen was betrothed to Lyonel’s heir, Ormund. This is actually pretty important for Robert’s Rebellion, as his own Targaryen blood was a factor in him being the one to claim the Iron Throne from the Mad King. Lyonel sadly may never know it, but Robert certainly seems to do him proud.

New episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms release on Sundays at 10pm ET on HBO and HBO Max.

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