Tywin + Lyanna = Dead Girl

The instrumental opening of an opera is comprised of dialogue between characters which introduce the overarching theme of the story depicted. May I direct your attention to our conductor, the maestro of A Song of Ice and Fire, Tywin Lannister. A shrewd and talented military man who we later learn plotted the Red Wedding to eliminate King Robb Stark, and drew houses Frey, Bolton, and Karstark into his plans, followed by the rest of the North. It was a shocking betrayal of guest right accomplished with the mere stroke of Tywin’s baton, er…I mean, pen.

Robert Baratheon was the biggest promoter that Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna and raped her. Honorable Ned didn’t seem like a man that would dishonor his new bride Catelyn with an affair that produced Jon, so the reader is easily led to believe that Lyanna is Jon’s mother, therefore Rhaegar must be his father. Ta-da! Case closed. (insert scratched record noise here, followed by the “tap-tap-tap” of a conductor’s baton)

It’s quite fitting to refer to Tywin Lannister as a maestro when there are other musical references throughout the books. We have Arya and Sansa who’s very names are musical terms. Sansa is a thumb piano, while Arya (Aria) is a song for solo voice. We have wolves raising their voice in song, and swords that sing. Lastly, there’s Rhaegar, who said to Elia regarding Aegon during Daenerys visit to HOTU:



Mad King Aerys was becoming increasingly unstable, Tywin disgusted, leaves his position as Hand and returns to Casterly Rock. Varys whispers to Aerys that Rhaegar was planning to meet with the great Houses of Westeros under the guise of a tourney at Harrenhal in order to force him from the throne. Aerys was not initially expected to attend, but his distrust of Rhaegar drove him to be there, leaving his wife and son behind.

There were several great lords that were quite familiar with each other, because they fought the War of the Ninepenny Kings just a few years prior. Jon Arryn, Steffon Baratheon, Rickard Stark, Hoster Tully and Tywin Lannister were all war buddies and on friendly terms as evidenced by the way they sent each other wards and planned marriage alliances, something Lady Barbery referred to as “southron amitions”. This was highly unusual, because under normal circumstances the great houses didn’t inter-marry. Traditionally, they married into their own bannermen in order to gain or retain influence with their own vassals. Here were the “southron” pairings:

Brandon Stark - Catelyn Tully
Robert Baratheon - Lyanna Stark
Jaime Lannister - Lysa Tully

There was no peace to seal, and friendships shouldn’t have dictated marriages. Binding five great houses through marriage would have created a powerful alliance that could have peacefully forced Aerys off the throne, and a case could be made that this was the plan discussed between Rhaegar and Tywin.

Prior to the Tourney of Harrenal and the Rebellion we have the genesis of a great, five-house political alliance. No doubt Aerys viewed the alliance with suspicious eyes as evidenced by his actions that followed. His first notable step was thwarting the Jaime Lannister - Lysa Tully marriage plans. Cersei worked behind her father’s back and somehow got Aerys to appoint Jaime to the Kingsguard. Later, Aerys makes a point of rubbing Jaime’s appointment in Tywin’s face at the Tourney of Harrenhal.



Jaime’s appointment was done out of spite and meant to put Tywin in his place. Tywin loses, not only his heir, but his inclusion in the great riverlord alliance. Or did he?


Tywin Lannister is playing a game with the Iron Throne as the goal. While Jaime is important as his heir to Casterly Rock, Cersei is Tywin’s key playing piece. Could Tywin simply take the throne by conquest? Maybe. But the belle of the ball at that moment in time was Rhaegar Targaryen. The people lurv Rhaegar! He’s the golden boy with the silver hair and indigo eyes, the Arthur of Camelot, and so dreamy! Tywin tried to make a match between Cersei and Rhaegar, but Aerys would have none of it. He insulted Tywin with these words:



Tywin’s pride was injured that day, although “injured” is too mild a word. Consider what Tywin has done in the past to people that “injure” his pride. He attacks like a ferocious lion! The Tarbecks and the Reynes were two houses completely anhilated by Tywin for “injuring” his pride. Both houses owed his father unpaid debts. Tytos was a weak man, and his bannermen took advantage of their leige lord of Lannister. Both houses ignored Tywin’s demands for repayment. Roger Reyne even reportedly laughed when he read Tywin’s edicts, and councilled his friends and vassals to do nothing, thus the beginning of the Reyne-Tarbeck rebellion.

The Tarbecks
Tywin marched on Tarbeck Hall with three thousand men-at-arms, crossbowmen, and five hundred knights while Lord Walderan Tarbeck responded with only his household knights. The Tarbecks were butchered with Walderan and his heirs beheaded. Lady Tarbeck was holed up in the castle and sent ravens to Castamere appealing for aid from her brothers, Lord Roger and Reynard Reyne. Tywin, however had siege engines prepared in less than a day. The boulders sent over the walls brought the castle down upon Lady Ellyn and her son. All resistance ended and the gates were opened. Tywin commanded everything be put to the torch. He then forced Ellyn’s daughters, Rohanne and Cyrelle to join the silent sisters, while Rohanne’s three year old son was thrown down a well.

The Reynes
Named after a nearby pool of water, Castamere began as a mine like Casterley Rock. Nine-tenths of the castle was subterranean. The Reynes took refuge underground, abandoning the surface fortifications once their soldiers were in the tunnels. Reynard Reynes sent terms stating that the Reynes would be loyal vassals again if Tywin would send his brothers to them as hostages. Tywin had the entrances buried beneath stone, and then dammed the pool’s stream and diverted it into a mine entrance, flooding the underground chambers. None of the three hundred men, woman, and children emerged, and Lannister men stationed at even the most distant entrances claimed they could hear faint screaming and shouting, but by daybreak there was nothing but silence.

Does this sound like a man that would let Aerys words go unpunished?


Tywin was a master at strategic planning, but every strategist has their conspirators. It was Tywin’s plan all along to anhilate all Targaryens, even Rhaegar. Oh, there was some inkling that he favored Rhaegar with that whole Duskendale business, but having a puppet on the throne could never satiate this lion’s appetite for power. Tywin viewed his lioness cub, Cersei as his most prized playing piece that was going to eliminate the dragon from the Cyvasse board. No woman has ever ruled the Seven Kingdoms so his queen would need a king, and even better if that king had some Targaryen blood.

Robert Baratheon gets his Targaryen blood from his grandma Rhaelle Targaryen, who was Steffon’s mother. Robert was a classic charasmatic egotist, charming everyone with his smiling exterior, but underneath harbored a storm of entitlement. His appearance epitomized the Storm Lord mimicking Thor, god of thunder, lightning, and storms, and was known to favor a warhammer in battle, and like Thor he was a great warrior. Is it really any surprise that Tywin would use him like a tool?

There are thirty chapters spread out between A Feast for Crows and A Dance With Dragons that have title names versus POV names that I believe tell two stories. There’s the straightforward one, and a second inverted one. The Soiled Knight describes Arys Oakheart’s seduction by Arianne Martell. She wants Arys to help her crown Myrcella, which she believes will help her raise support to take over rule of Dorne from her father. The inverted story is Cersei’s seduction of Robert Baratheon. If Robert is Tywin’s choice for king, the only way Cersei can be queen is if they get rid of Lyanna Stark, who is currently engaged in a marriage contract with Robert.

The “official story” of Robert and Cersei’s marriage alliance is that it happened after Robert was already upon the throne. Poor sad Robert was still mourning Lyanna’s loss, and honorable father-figure Jon Arryn had to convince him that it was to his advantage to marry Cersei. Did you really believe that crap?

If my inversion theory proves true, then Cersei and Robert were secret lovers prior to Lyanna’s abduction. If you are wary to believe the inversion story exists, lets run through this theory like a criminal case. Did Tywin, Cersei, and Robert have motive? Absolutely! I know most people think Robert rose in rebellion over Lyanna’s kidnapping, but this view is through honorable Ned’s eyes. Robert kept his true self from Ned. Ned did witness flashes of the egotist below the surface when he served as Hand and Robert called for the deaths of Viserys and Daenerys. Ned couldn’t believe his childhood friend would kill innocent children, but Robert called them dragon’s spawn! Ned was shocked by Robert’s calm acceptance of the dead bodies of Rhaenys and Aegon, but refused to believe that a man that was practically is brother could be so cold. Have we as readers been similarily blind to Robert’s ruthless ambition?


Back when Tywin was collecting debts owed their father, Kevan was kidnapping nobles and holding them for ransom. He even married one such hostage, Dorna Swift, daughter of Ser Harys Swift who was either unable or unwilling to repay. The Westeros histories also say Kevan was charged with ridding the westerlands of robber knights and bandit outlaws, but I think Kevan’s men were raiders in disguise under the psuedonym of the Kingswood Brotherhood. Tywin has been known to send out raiders in disguise as evidenced early on in the story when Catelyn kidnapped Tyrion. Tywin called his banners and sent out Ser Gregor Clegane to raid the riverlands, but curiously he and his men rode under cover of night, without banners:



I believe that this event mirrors what happened with the Kingswood Brotherhood; an assumed identity for uncommon brigands. So who were these robber knights and bandit outlaws?

The known members of the Kingswood Brotherhood:

Simon Toyne - was the leader
Smiling Knight - Jaime said he was “the Mountain of my boyhood. Half as big, twice as mad.”
Wenda the White Fawn
Oswyn Longneck - the Thrice-Hanged
Big Belly Ben - nearly killed Lord Crakehall, but was deterred by Jaime. Ben escaped capture.
Fletcher Dick - unknown fate
Ulmer - captured and sent to the Wall

A google search reveals that “Simon Toyne” is a British author whose best selling trio of books are titled: Sanctus, The Key, and The Tower.

A short summary from the back cover of Sanctus:



Seriously? I should also point out that in other book summaries they talk about a man jumping from a tower and how it was a symbolic message to the world. Substitute a woman jumping from a tower and it sounds eerily like ASOIAF.

I also found this in the wiki under the Tourney of Storm’s End:



The contradictions regarding the Tourney of Storm’s End seems to imply that our dear Lord Selmy may not be as honorable as we have been led to believe. His “contradictions” may be attempts by Barristan to conceal his part in the kidnapping plot by creating a false backstory for Simon Toyne, who I believe is actually Maester Walys. We know he’s lying since he places the Tourney of Storm’s End after the defeat of the Kingswood Brotherhood where he also credits himself as killing Simon Toyne. How could Rhaegar have defeated a dead man? It’s a pretty convenient tale since Rhaegar isn’t alive to discredit the claim.

How did Ser Barristan get so cozy with Robert Baratheon and have the balls to lie so convincingly to Dany about how loyal he was to her brother? Somehow there is a connection to the Citadel which Sam will likely reveal since our author is telling us that the Sanctus is the Key to the Tower.

To expand on my suspicions regarding Maester Walys, lets examine how he may have been a participant in Tywin’s plot. Maester Walys is Walys Flowers and bastard son of a Hightower girl and an Archmaester of the Citadel. Lady Barbery Ryswell implies that he instigated Lord Rickard’s “southron ambitions”. Being that Walys is the bastard son of an Archmaester, I think we can confirm a connection to the Citadel by the author’s choice of naming the leader of the Kingswood Brotherhood “Simon Toyne”.


Basically the plan is to remove Lyanna from the marriage equation to Robert, but they cannot simply break the engagement otherwise Tywin risks losing the Starks as an ally. What better way to cement their alliance by turning them against Rhaegar with the death of their beloved Lyanna? Lets break this down into bullet points to make sense of Tywin’s plans.

1) He wants Cersei to be queen
2) He needs to marry her to a king
3) He wants revenge on the Targaryens, which means total annihilation
4) Robert has Targaryen blood, thus legitimate claim
5) Lyanna is engaged to Robert - she has to go
6) He needs the Starks and Arryns as allies
7) He needs the Starks and Arryns to turn on Rhaegar

Are you with me now? How does Tywin accomplish his plan and keep his allies? No one must know that he got rid of Lyanna. Robert was the key and Tywin needed to poison the marriage alliance, and he chose Cersei to carry out the seduction. Everyone thinks Cersei went behind her father’s back like Sansa, but the inversion to Sansa would be for Cersei to be a willing participant in her father’s plans. Jaime was just their willing pawn. HE may have thought he was conspiring with only Cersei, and I think this is the fact that will spur him into killing her when he finds out.

The plan included having someone dress in Rhaegar’s armor leading a raiding party under Targaryen banners and kidnap Lyanna. Some of the members in the fake raiding party have participated in the Lannister “nobles for gold” debt collection schemes. It is my opinion that the Kingswood Brotherhood is their assumed disguise, so lets go over the members again and see if any of their descriptions can be matched up with who I think was involved.

1) Simon Toyne “the leader” becomes Maester Walys (since I suspect a Citadel conspiracy)
2) The Smiling Knight is Robert Baratheon, the Mountain of Jaime’s youth
3) Wenda the White Fawn is Lyanna
4) Oswyn Longneck is Sumner Crakehall, whom Jaime squired for
5) Big Belly Ben is Jaime Lannister, since he’s credited with “saving” Sumner, and got away.
6) Fletch Dick is Merrett Frey
7) Ulmer is Barristan Selmy, although an “Ulmer” was sent to the Wall. Somebody had to be “evidence” that this group existed, so I am assuming this old man is just a patsy.

Aerys II had sent a detachment of men to deal with the Kingswood Brotherhood. Here are the members of the detachment:

Ser Arthur Dayne - who led in Ser Hightower’s place, who was injured.
Ser Barristan Selmy
Lord Sumner Crakehall
Squire Merrett Frey
Squire Jaime Lannister

Here is how the plan was carried out. After Rickard and Brandon left for Riverrun for the marriage to Catelyn Tully, Maester Walys was at Winterfell with Lyanna who was sick with red spots at the time and isolated from the rest of the household and under his care. (This mirrors how Arianne and Arys got Myrcella out of Sunspear.) It was Walys that got Lyanna out of the castle and to an area where she was easily "fallen upon". She would have been weak from her illness and unaware that it was Robert under Rhaegar’s armor. They ride towards Aerys’s detachment. Maester Walys has Lyanna sedated so she really isn’t in any state to resist nor realize what is happening. The detachment was camped out for the night when Robert dressed as Rhaegar shows up with Maester Walys and Lyanna in tow. Ever the gallant knight, Ser Arthur rescues Lyanna, but he dare not kill his friend and prince, but where does he go? Where should he take her?


Lyanna and Arthur’s flight mirrored Arya and Sandor’s with Arthur trying to get Lyanna home or at least to her next of kin. This essay’s purpose was to tell a truer story than the fairy tale most have chosen to believe. I am leaving the ending open as my goal has been achieved: to show you how Tywin is to blame for Lyanna’s kidnapping. Twyin demands respect. Even kings should fear his wrath as Robb Stark, Aerys and Rhaegar Targaryen are no longer with us, as well as the Tarbecks and Reynes. He achieved his goals by placing the Lannisters on the Iron Throne.