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In episode 3 of season 4, there is a chilling scene with Tywin, Cersei, and

soon to be King Tommen.

Tywin gives a history lesson and talks about the three rulers that lacked wisdom. They were Baelor who was holy, the last was Robert who was strong, but the second one he mentions I am unfamiliar with. His name was either Orys or Horace and Tywin talked about him being just but it didn't stop him from being murdered in his sleep by his brother.

I do not remember anything like this from the books so I am wondering which king Tywin is speaking about. Perhaps Orys Baratheon who was Aegon's bastard brother, but I don't remember anything about him being murdered.

Paul D. Waite
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Cole
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  • You said this was the most recent episode, so I spoilered it for you. As I'm not a GoT fan, if this episode is ridiculously old or otherwise doesn't need the spoiler tags, someone with more knowledge of the series should feel free to roll my edit back. – James Sheridan Apr 21 '14 at 09:20
  • is this a spoiler? Granted it's something that has happened in an episode some people may not have seen, but it is not a major plot point. – The Giant of Lannister Apr 21 '14 at 09:41
  • also, without anything in the title or any preamble, it is impossible for anyone to know they are having something spoiled them without looking at the spoiler... – The Giant of Lannister Apr 21 '14 at 09:42
  • @TheGiantofLannister there is a major plot point from last weeks episode hidden in there regarding the title given to one of the characters. I'll try to narrow it down to just the relevant part. – KutuluMike Apr 21 '14 at 12:02
  • I guess we now have spoiled that Tywin is alive in season 4, just by the title. As was the case when people complained about the question about Jon and Ygritte in season 2. – TLP Apr 21 '14 at 12:17
  • Glad to see I'm not the only one who was confused by King Orys I. – System Down Apr 21 '14 at 16:28
  • I think this episode was supportive of my theory about Tywin: http://scifi.stackexchange.com/q/50306/2256 – TLP Apr 22 '14 at 13:53

2 Answers2

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It appears that D&D made up King Orys I for the show. The wikia page on Orys I has this to say about the character:

As Elio Garcia of Westros.org, co-author of the World of Ice and Fire sourcebook explained, this was also not simply a matter of Charles Dance (Tywin) mispronouncing a name, because he had seen the broadcast script, and it clearly said "Orys the First" (the on-screen subtitles also spell this name the same way). Garcia stated that Benioff and Weiss had apparently just invented this "Orys the First" and he doesn't correspond to any character from the books. In order to reconcile this, Garcia said that this "Orys the First" should probably be interpreted as just a king of the independent Kingdom of the Stormlands, from long before the Targaryen Conquest - in which case he was not one of the established Targaryen kings but a local king of House Durrandon. This would make his full name "Orys I Durrandon". Tywin therefore wasn't citing him as a king who sat on the Iron Throne, but an infamous example of a (local) king, remembered over three centuries later for how his own brother murdered him. Garcia also pointed out that "Orys" was not a common name used in the Stormlands until after Orys Baratheon became their new ruler during the Targaryen Conquest.

However, as far as I can see all of this information is gathered from the following quote and no others:

Having seen the broadcast script, D&D invented a King Orys. Fairly sure he's intended to be a Storm King, though of course the name Orys is not originally from the stormlands.

Don't worry, Oberyn's daughters are safe.

Therefore the full quote from the wikia seems to be making guesses as to who Orys I is. As far as we know he was some Storm King though again that is only a guess but at least it is by Elio.

The previous quote states that the script stated Orys and not Aerys. Both transcripts I was able to find also state Orys I:

A good king must be just. Orys I was just. Everyone applauded his reforms.
Springfield! Springfield!

And:

TYWIN: Yeah. A good king must be just. Orys I was just. Everyone applauded his reforms. Nobles and commoners alike. But he wasn't just for long. He was murdered in his sleep after less than a year by his own brother. Was that truly just of him? To abandon his subjects to an evil that he was too gullible to recognize?
Genius

TheLethalCarrot
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There are no Targaryen kings called Orys the First. So barring a revised history for the TV show (not entirely out of the realm of possibility) we have a few (problematic) possibilities:

  • Orys is a mispronunciation (or a renaming) of an existing Targaryen king. Aerys I is a likely candidate, but the biography does not completely match. We have no record of him being called "The Just" and he reigned for far more than a year. In fact, the only Targayen king who ruled for a year was Viserys II but he most likely died of old age (he was hand to two kings) and his only brother (King Aegon III) was already dead.

  • He was not a Targaryen king at all. Westeros has a very long history that predates the Targaryen conquest. And with seven kingdoms there are plenty of kings to go around, most of whom we have never heard about. However, the only Orys we know is Orys Baratheon, the rumored bastard half brother of Aegon the Conqueror and founder of house Baratheon. So I'm assuming that Orys is a Valyrian name, which perhaps means that Orys I was a Valyrian as well. Problematic since Old Valyria was a freehold that didn't have kings.

System Down
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