If you could, what would you add or change about the Game of Thrones storyline?

I’d add Lyonel Baratheon, trueborn son of Robert Baratheon and Cersei Lannister, born after Joffrey but before Myrcella and Tommen. He was born in 287 AC and has black hair but his mother’s striking green eyes. He is militarily inclined like his father but is calm, but calculating like his mother. As he spent some time with his uncle Stannis in King’s Landing before he left, he has picked up a strong sense of justice.

Background

Cersei decided not to abort him as she knew that Jaime’s child would sit the Iron Throne and just had a change of heart and didn’t want to risk aborting the King’s child, as there was no one she could trust with this. We don’t know for sure, her POV has conflicting thoughts on the matter. However, we do know for certain that he is Robert’s son. However Cersei does not like him as much as she loves Jaime’s children, as she sees too much of Robert in him.

Season One

Lyonel meets Ned Stark in Winterfell, and Ned immediately takes to him as Lyonel shows the side of him he knows that Ned will like, the side more like his father. When Joffrey and Arya get into a fight on the Kingsroad he is angered by his brother’s cruelty but laughs when he sees Arya, with her direwolf, to disarm Joffrey. He helps Arya to allow Nymeria to escape, but his words cannot sway Cersei who is more protective of Joffrey, so she has Lady executed nonetheless. Lyonel tries to console Sansa, but she is sent to her room by Ned. Lyonel watches as Ned executes Lady himself and mutters to himself about how strong a person Ned is.

When they all arrive in King’s Landing, he volunteers to practise swordplay with Arya and Syrio, and has relatively relaxed social attitudes. He forms a bond and friendship with Arya as they both share a passion for swordplay and have a strong attitude towards their interpretation of justice. Ned notices the two building a friendship and considers to himself how much he’d wish that Sansa could marry Lyonel instead of Joffrey, which makes him begin to wonder about whether Robert’s children are in fact his.

When Ned starts inquiring into Robert’s bastards, he decides that Lyonel cannot be Jaime’s son since he is good-natured and has black hair. He decides to swear to protect Robert’s children as he did, meaning Lyonel. When King Robert dies Lyonel is greatly grieved at his father’s death and hopes that Ned will rule in Joffrey’s name.

When Ned is arrested Lyonel is outraged and notices Arya escaping. She tells him that he should run away with her, but he says that he cannot and must do his duty by his family, and if Arya’s father is a traitor then the Gods will condemn him, much as he respects Eddard. However he allows Arya to escape due to their friendship and tells her that they will meet again.

Lyonel is conflicted about Eddard, as on the one hand he cannot believe that Ned would betray his childhood friend Robert. However everyone knows that Ned walked into the throne room and declared that Joffrey had no claim on the throne, so Lyonel thinks that justice should be done. He agrees with Cersei that Ned should be sent to the Wall. However Joffrey has always been jealous of his brother’s prowess and popularity, and is persuaded by Littlefinger to execute Ned partly to spite Lyonel. This action infuriates Lyonel who sees it as dishonourable and politically stupid. He goes to Sansa and expresses his sorrow at Ned’s death, and thinks that it was unfitting for him to die in such a way.

Season 2

Stannis declares Lyonel to be a bastard born of incest when on Dragonstone, and doesn’t consider him to be Robert’s son. He goes ahead and claims the throne, as he is convinced that all Robert’s ‘children’ are in fact bastards, despite the fact that Lyonel spent time with him. He considers Lyonel to be a good person but ultimately decides he must do his duty and make his claim, which he believes is justified.

Lyonel is greeted by Tyrion when he arrives in King’s Landing, and Tyrion acridly remarks on how much more like a Prince Lyonel is compared to his brother Joffrey. Lyonel participates in the joust on Joffrey’s name day and is defeated quickly, but does not disgrace himself given his young age.

Lyonel is saddened when his sister Myrcella is sent to Dorne, but understands the political necessity of the move. Lyonel is considered for a marriage pact with Yara Greyjoy when the Iron Islands joins in war against the North, which is stalled by Balon for the time being while he is uncertain about who his heir shall be with Theon’s loyalty uncertain.

Lyonel walks in when Sansa is being beaten on Joffrey’s orders, and is horrified by the display of his brother’s cruelty. He is relieved when Tyrion puts an end to the beating, he himself was too cautious to stand up to his brother as he recognises that he has power and already bears a grudge against him.

When Stannis attacks King’s Landing, Lyonel fights with the City Watch and distinguishes himself in combat, fighting bravely in repelling his uncle’s forces. He is nearly slain by a knight in service to Stannis but is saved by the Hound. When the battle is over and won, Lyonel is acknowledged for his service and given a knighthood by Ser Balon Swann.

Season 3

Lyonel Baratheon is a well-respected figure in King’s Landing and has grown into the political mould that he aspired to fit. In this season we see his mental torment as he finds out the truth about Cersei and Jaime, and becomes disillusioned with his family.

Lyonel spends more time with Sansa Stark and comes to grow sympathy for the Stark cause, believing that a peace should be reached, and knows that Sansa is effectively a hostage of his family. He grows suspicious of Petyr Baelish’s interest in Sansa which she confides in Lyonel about. Lyonel promises not to tell anyone that Sansa might be planning to escape. He begins to have great sympathy for Sansa’s situation, imagining himself living in a hostage situation.

When he has a conversation with his mother Cersei, she breaks into tears and tells him how much she misses Jaime. Lyonel becomes more suspicious of the true nature of his mother and uncle’s relationship. He asks his uncle Tyrion about the matter, rather discreetly, and notices the hesitation in his uncle’s voice as he tells him that there is nothing untoward about Jaime and Cersei’s relationship. He himself notices the differences in hair colour and the madness that seems to be infecting Joffrey more and more as time goes on. In the middle of the season he comes to the conclusion that his siblings are perhaps bastards born of incest. He is greatly tormented by this judgement as he loves his siblings Tommen and Myrcella, but despises Joffrey. He thinks that the sins of the parents are not the responsibility of the children, but is still disgusted by it.

When Lyonel finds out about the Red Wedding, he becomes all the more disillusioned with his family. He feels that the act was incredibly dishonourable and is deeply annoyed at his brother’s glee, and sees the long term ramifications as many will try to seek revenge against House Lannister and all connected to it. He sees himself as the true Baratheon heir to the throne and sees Joffrey as a usurper. He is incredibly personally divided between his family and his morals and honour.

Season 4

Things get to breaking point after Joffrey’s assassination.

When Joffrey is assassinated, suspicion falls on Tyrion, but many theorise that Tyrion conspired with Lyonel to put him on the throne. Lyonel is put under effective house arrest and is suspected of the murder, but not actually arrested. Cersei allows this as she was never as fond of Lyonel as she was of her incest children. As a result of this Lyonel becomes very bitter and now truly is the worst enemy of House Lannister. Lyonel decides to flee and escapes across the Narrow Sea by getting a ship, which no one expected but Lyonel has no plan, so is incredibly disorganised. He decides he no longer wants the Iron Throne and will serve a Queen who can give him revenge upon his family - Daenerys Targaryen.

Lyonel is attainted and stripped of any claim to the throne, and the people now assume him to be guilty as a result of his escape. He takes nothing but some personal belongings with him. Lyonel ends up in Braavos, where he makes enquiries into the dragon queen. He takes the decision that he will serve Daenerys Targaryen.

He decides that he will be happy to lay aside his claim to the throne and accept lordship of the Stormlands in order to have revenge against his family. While in Braavos he becomes a much more bitter person, motivated almost solely by revenge and hatred. However his strong moral code prevents him from committing evil, but instead he bottles it all up and begins to have serious personal issues and is extremely mentally tormented.

Season 5

While in Braavos, Lyonel is assaulted by a group of thugs and robbed, he fights them off but several valuable belongings he took with him from Westeros are taken. He is now penniless and has nothing, except his sword. Unbeknowst to him, Arya has been tasked with killing him. Arya cannot bear to kill him and they reunite and she is reminded of her previous identity. Lyonel tells Arya his life is meaningless as she can kill him if she wants, but she tells him to avenge his family as she is trying to do. Arya steals gold and gives it to Lyonel and tells him to go to the dragon queen.

Lyonel gets a ship with the money that he has and sets sail for Lys, from there planning to go to Meereen. He does not have enough funds to get to Meereen but plans to do some work along the way to pay his way. When he arrives in Lys he fears that he may die as he has no way of getting to Meereen. He is tempted by prostitutes but decides not to based on his income rather than his moral code, as he decides his idea of justice is flawed and that there is no justice in this world.

He is met by an agent of Varys in Lys who tells him that he will be useful to Daenerys, and gives him the gold he needs to travel to Dany. Lyonel does not want to become a pawn of Varys, and does not trust him, but is told that the circumstances for his escape were engineered by Varys. We then see Varys in conversation with Illyrio where he makes the point that he sees Lyonel as a good marriage match for Daenerys, in a Henry Tudor sort of way of uniting the two warring houses. Lyonel is unaware of this, but reluctantly decides that he has no choice but to join with Daenerys and accept following Varys’ plans for the time being.

He reaches Daenerys in Meereen and gets there before Tyrion, telling her that he is the son of Robert Baratheon and Cersei Lannister. Daenerys is annoyed by this, but he tells her that he no longer desires the throne and merely wishes to be a Lord of the Stormlands and subject of Daenerys. Lyonel is nervous, but Dany keeps him under watch in her palace whilst she makes a decision on him. When Tyrion arrives, the two vouch for each other and commit to the destruction of House Lannister. As Lyonel is only thirteen, though mature and capable for his age, Daenerys doesn’t take to him as he is too serious and dour for her liking. Lyonel dislikes Daenerys’ naive approach to justice and ‘breaking the wheel’, and thinks his motive of revenge is much more realistic and simple to achieve. He sees how poor Daenerys’ rule of Meereen is and begins to question whether he has made the correct decision.

The season ends with Lyonel attaching himself to Tyrion and offering to help him rule, though he is laughed at by Daario, Tyrion tells him that he is extremely capable and will be of use. When Varys arrives, Lyonel recognises him and tells him that he will be a puppet no longer, and is his own man. Varys professes innocence and tells Lyonel that he only intended what was best for him, and now he is able to serve the true Queen. Lyonel is sceptical but goes along with this. Lyonel ends the season once again sceptical and questioning his purpose in life.

Season 6

Lyonel spends the season full of angst, and if I ran Season 6 I’d cut a lot of the Meereen scenes. Nonetheless Lyonel sees how useless the management of Meereen has been. He proposes just getting the hell out of Meereen and invading Westeros, as soon as Daenerys gets back. He doesn’t understand why they have to wait.

When Dany arrives back, she agrees to grant him lordship of the Stormlands and says that she will consider sparing her mother, if she is a good person and agrees to uphold Daenerys’ law. Lyonel knows this is a bad deal but accepts that it is the best possible scenario.

When Yara arrives, Daenerys considers a marriage pact between Yara and Lyonel, to bind together the different factions under her rule. This is under the advice of Tyrion who perhaps wants to stop any possibility of Lyonel marrying Dany. Varys sees how a marriage between the two wouldn’t work and goes along with this. The two reluctantly agree, as they can see how it will be politically beneficial and will add prestige to both houses. They agree to make it a betrothal until they arrive in Westeros and things are secure, besides Yara is a lesbian so doesn’t really want to marry Lyonel. He realises this, but isn’t attracted to Yara anyway and has known since he was a child that he will have to marry for political reasons. However he resents Dany for not consulting him properly and treating him like a child.

The group sets sail for Westeros, and Lyonel is rapidly losing faith in Daenerys’ cause.

Season 7

When Daenerys’ faction arrives in Westeros, they find out that Lyonel’s mother Cersei has taken the throne, Tommen and Myrcella are dead and Cersei has committed a massive terrorist attack to remove political rivals. Lyonel is shocked about this, but now realises that his own mother will be executed. He is extremely conflicted about this and realises the futility of this attempt at revenge, as his mother too seems to have lost the will to live and is motivated only by revenge.

When Yara proposes to burn King’s Landing, Lyonel is horrified and does not want this, and she accuses him of being sympathetic to his mother’s cause and belittles him, saying he is not old enough yet to understand war. Lyonel is deeply annoyed by this. He asks to go as an envoy to the North to try to sway them to Daenerys’ side, and when Jon arrives he realises when he is virtually held prisoner by Daenerys that this approach may be the best way to suit all sides. Lyonel also wants to see Winterfell again, as he has fond memories of a time when he lived a simpler life. He tells Jon that Arya is alive before leaving, and Jon is awestruck.

Lyonel arrives in the north, and is surprised to find Sansa and Arya there, as he knew Arya was alive in Braavos but didn’t expect to see her in Winterfell. He is shocked to hear that Sansa was raped and is extremely saddened by this. He tries to keep Littlefinger away from interfering with the two sisters, but Littlefinger dismisses him as irrelevant. Arya consults him about what to do with the letter he found, and Lyonel assures her that she must have done this under coercion from his mother Cersei, as he says that it sounds like her words. Arya says that she doesn’t care and that she’d rather die than betray her family.

Lyonel tells Sansa his honest feelings about Daenerys, and says that she is beautiful, kind-hearted and strong, however she is arrogant and too idealistic. Lyonel hears from Bran about the threat from the north, and believes him. He sends a message back to Daenerys saying that he believes the threat of the Army for the Dead and urges her to end the war with Cersei. He also secretly sends a message to his mother Cersei asking her to agree a truce, and tells her that he didn’t kill Joffrey.

Daenerys reacts to the letter and believes that Jon might have a point, and begins to consider a truce. Cersei receives the letter, and after Jaime told her about Olenna’s revelation, she believes that Lyonel is telling the truth about the White Walkers, but decides that she will agree a truce, hope that Daenerys can defeat the Army of the Dead and take back Westeros in the meantime. However she still isn’t overly fond of Lyonel, but recognises him as her son once more and sends a calculated reply telling him that he is always welcome at court again, though the throne is Cersei’s. Lyonel burns this letter, being unable to forgive his mother for the evil she has done.

Lyonel begins to develop an affection for Sansa, and she appears to reciprocate, though he is too young for her and she tells him that they would have to wait a few years and get to know him again before she could ever countenance marriage. Their marriage would make political sense, she agrees, but she cannot at present. Littlefinger hears about this and is infuriated that Lyonel would ever try to encroach on Sansa. He sends a hired man to try and kill Lyonel in the night.

Lyonel sees the man coming, and a commotion occurs as he tries to fend him off with his sword, but the assassin taunts him. He wounds Lyonel a few times, toying with him. He stabs him in the stomach before Arya comes in and incapacitates the assassin. Lyonel realises that this wound may be fatal. He stamps on the assassin’s chest and tortures him in this way to find out who made the murder attempt on him. He divulges the name of Petyr Baelish. Lyonel collapses.

Lyonel is in a very serious condition on a maester’s table. He knows that he will die but doesn’t particularly care as he lost the will to live a long time ago. He finds out that Littlefinger was arrested and executed for Lyonel’s murder. Cersei and Daenerys have also come to a truce partially as a result of Lyonel’s words, or so he believes. Lyonel dies with Sansa, Arya and Bran around him, and Bran tells him that he lived a good life. He whispers, ‘Ours is the Fury’, before passing away.

Conclusion

The purpose of Lyonel was to show how a young teenager might actually react in a situation as volatile as this, tormented and conflicted, losing the will to carry on after he loses his prime motivation. He also provides a more satisfying way for Littlefinger to be executed. I didn’t make a plan or anything before starting, and made it up as I went along so there may well (in fact I’m pretty sure there are) be inconsistencies or errors. I hope it was at least entertaining, though. Constructive criticism is welcome in the comments.