A simple question is asked of all those who play the game of thrones, whether they realize it or
not. What is power? Where does it lie? Some see power in possessing knowledge that most lack.
Others see it on the steps leading to Baelor’s Sept, or in the Great Hall that holds the Iron
Throne. To some, power resides solely in the blade of a swordsman’s hand. It is a question
with too many answers. Yet a great many across the Seven Kingdoms, if asked, would answer that power
resides in gold alone. If this is true, then the power that guides Westeros does not come
from King’s Landing, but emanates from Casterly Rock, the ancestral stronghold of House Lannister.
The history of how the Lannisters’ came to rule Casterly Rock, and by extension, much of the
Westerlands, has been twisted and intertwined with the myths and legends that arose from the Age of
Heroes. House Lannister entered the chronicles of Westeros just as suddenly as House Casterly,
the ancient holders of the Rock, vanished. This is said to be the work of Lann the Clever, who
seized control of the castle with nothing but his wits and used it as the foundation for his house.
The stories differ on how Lann accomplished such a feat,
with explanations ranging from the fantastical to the perverse.
However the rule of Casterly Rock was seized, the Lannisters at some point split,
with those of higher status growing in strength to become the Kings of the Rock.
The first recorded such King was Loreon the First, although some sources posthumously
bestow this title to Lann the Clever instead. Lesser branches of the family developed the
nearby city of Lannisport, creating a healthy center of trade and commerce.
Victory in a lengthy war against a supposed necromancer known as the
Hooded King cemented the rule of the Lannisters and brought to the family their first vassals.
During the coming of the Andals to Westeros, subsequent Kings of the Rock
initially fought the invading tribes, only to then intermarry with the outsiders.
The Lannisters would eventually become an Andal House, while retaining their original name.
By the time Aegon the Conqueror arrived on the shores of Westeros, House Lannister had extended
its control over neighboring lands and isles. The King of the Rock at this time, Loren the First,
entered into an alliance with the King of the Reach against the Targaryens, assembling a
vast host with which to confront Aegon. While they severely outnumbered the opposing army,
the timely arrival of Targaryen dragons resulted in the massacre of Lannister forces
in a battle that would become known to history as the Field of Fire.
King Loren bent the knee to Aegon, rising as the first Warden of the West under the rule of House
Targaryen. The swords from his defeated army were collected and melted down to form the Iron Throne.
House Lannister’s fortunes were for a time, tied to those of House Targaryen.
As the Wardens of the West, they became powerful voices in the Seven Kingdoms, whose support and
advice was increasingly valuable to the Targaryen Kings. During the Dance of Dragons, in which
House Targaryen was sundered by Civil War, the Lannister’s rule over the west was similarly
thrown into chaos as rival claimants to the Iron Throne and aspirant warlords marched on the
region. Lannisport would be sacked and Casterly Rock besieged by Ironborn raiders before the
uprisings were finally put down. House Lannister would again side with the loyalists during
the subsequent Blackfyre Rebellions, further binding the Lannisters and Targaryens together.
In the 244th year after Aegon’s Conquest, the rule of House Lannister had begun to wither, in part
due to the weak and naive character of Lord Tytos Lannister. His bannerman took advantage of his
trusting nature, with houses Reyne and Tarbeck becoming centers of corruption and disloyalty.
So weakened was House Lannister’s rule over the west, that the Iron Throne was in multiple
instances, forced to deploy its knights to the westerlands to restore a semblance of order.
The crisis in the west culminated in the Reyne-Tarbeck revolt of 261,
in which both houses renounced their fealty to Casterly Rock. Determined to restore the honor
of the Lannisters, Ser Tywin, acting without the permission of his father Lord Tytos,
assembled a force to crush the rebellion. Tywin’s victory over the revolt was so complete and brutal
that the Reynes and Tarbeck houses were eliminated and the Lannister’s hold over the west restored.
The Rains of Castamere, a song immortalizing the destruction of these threats to Lannister power,
became enormously popular, often enough in itself to cow defiant vassals into submission.
Tywin’s triumph here and his friendship with the newly inaugurated King of Westeros, Aerys
the Second, elevated Tywin to serve as Hand of the King, the youngest man to ever hold the position.
With the death of Tytos, Tywin inherited the titles of Lord of Casterly Rock and
Warden of the West, making him one of the most powerful men in the Seven Kingdoms.
When Aerys was taken hostage in 277 during a brief crisis known as the Defiance of Duskendale,
Tywin’s cautious approach in rescuing the king created a rift between the two. Various perceived
slights centered around Tywin’s children, namely Jamie and Cersei Lannister, further deepened
this divide and Tywin eventually resigned the handship and returned to Casterly Rock.
During Robert’s Rebellion, in which the Baratheons, Starks, Arryns and Tullys,
moved to overthrow the increasingly mad King Aerys, House Lannister initially remained neutral.
It was only after the death of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen during the Battle of the Trident,
that Tywin intervened. Feigning loyalty to the Targaryen cause, Lannister forces
were allowed to enter King’s Landing only to conquer and sack the city from the inside.
Jamie Lannister of the Kingsguard slew King Aerys while Lannister bannermen killed Rhaegar’s wife
and children to prove Tywin’s commitment to the rebel cause.
The marriage of King Robert the First to Cersei, combined with the increasing debts owed to Castery
Rock by the crown, enabled house Lannister to retain its dominance in the new Baratheon
Era. It contributed forces to the invasion of the Iron Islands during the ill-fated Greyjoy
Rebellion and worked to enforce Baratheon rule over the west as it had for the Targaryens before.
With the death of King Robert and the outbreak of the War of the Five Kings, Tywin mobilized first
against the Starks and Tullys in the Riverlands, and later against Stannis Baratheon. Tywin’s
decisiveness and strategic brilliance resulted in the assassination of the King in the North,
a stunning triumph over Stannis Baratheon during the Battle of the Blackwater,
and near complete control over the crown. While King Joffery Baratheon ruled in name,
the true power behind the throne was Tywin and this power was exercised through Queen Cercei
and Tyrion, the acting hand of the king and Tywin’s youngest son.
By the end of the War of the Five Kings however, Tywin had been killed by Tyrion
and his plans had been shattered, first by the death of King Joffery,
and later by the inept rule of Queen Regent Cersei.
Increasingly outmaneuvered by the other surviving Great Houses of Westeros, Lannister
power has withered with even Cersei imprisoned and humiliated by a revitalized Faith Militant.
Despite these recent failures, the Lannisters remain one of the most powerful Great Houses in
Westeros. Its undisputed control over the riches of Casterly Rock and the surrounding Westerlands
give it an unrivaled supply of mineral wealth routinely used to buy loyalty
and respect. Together with its sworn houses and other bannermen, the Lannisters can
marshall one of the larger armies of Westeros and undoubtedly the best funded and equipped.
But the loss of Tywin looms large over Westeros and despite attempts by many
to emulate his ruthlessness and brilliance the decline of House Lannister might be inevitable.
New threats have emerged to its dominance over the Seven Kingdoms, both rivals from within and
foreign powers from across the narrow sea. Power unquestionably remains within House Lannister,
but it is held now by those without the wit to use it, pawns, not players, in the Game of Thrones.