The Cursed Houses of Harrenhal Part I (w/ Quinn the GM & Interesting Nerd Club) | ASOIAF

How did the great castle of Harren the Black degrade into a cursed ruin? Which doomed Houses ruled over it? What were the bloody fates of the Lords and castellans who dared to call it their home? Let's explore the Cursed Houses of Harrenhal. Like and subscribe for more animated lore, check out my Patreon if you're interested, and lemme know which of these cursed Houses is your favourite. We must begin with House Hoare, the old Kings of the Iron Islands. It's probably not pronounced that way but

I don't wanna get demonetised. When Harwyn Hoare conquered the Riverlands, he declared himself King of the Isles and the Rivers, a title that passed down to his son Halleck. While Halleck boasted a modest seat at Fairmarket, his son demanded something… greater. King Harren the Black spent 40 years constructing the largest castle in Westeros. His lands were stripped of their resources and wealth, and thousands of slave labourers were stripped of their lives. Yet it was all for nought. King Aegon

Targaryen parlayed with King Harren Hoare, demanding his submission in exchange for his life. The arrogant Ironborn spat on this offer, assuming the thick stone walls of his castle would spare him. Aegon flew Balerion the Black Dread above Harrenhal, and roasted the entire Hoare dynasty alive. Many believe that Harren's hubris and sadism unleashed a curse upon his castle, a curse which claimed his entire House, and continues to claim every House that seizes the castle for themselves. Aegon the

Conqueror granted the twisted castle to the Dragonstone master-at-arms, Ser Quenton of House Qoherys, whose sigil references the fiery fate of the Hoares. The new Lord Quenton secured his position by taking the daughter of his new liege Lord, Edmyn Tully, as his second wife. When he fell from a horse 9 years later, he was succeeded by his grandson, Gargon, who sealed the fate of their dynasty... Lord Gargon Qoherys was a grotesque man. He practised the lord's right to the first night, attending

every wedding in his domain to sleep with the new bride - when he wasn't preying on the wives and daughters of his servants, of course. He earned the nickname Gargon the Guest. The House of Qoherys did not last for much longer. An outlaw named Harren the Red rose up in rebellion, claiming to be the grandson of King Harren Hoare. Red Harren and his men seized Harrenhal, captured Lord Gargon, and castrated him in the godswood. In one fell swoop he ended the male line of Qoherys and seated himself

as Lord of Harrenhal… until he himself was slain in battle. The castle later passed onto the House of Harroway. QUINN: Out of all of the noble houses that have occupied Harrenhal in the days since its original founders were exterminated I would argue that House Harroway became the most powerful. They didn’t rule this ruined keep for long, but during the years that they did, they boasted one achievement that no other family that occupied Harrenhal can claim. I’m Quinn the GM, thank you to my good

friend the Late Lord Haven for having me, and today I'm gonna be taking you through the history of House Harroway. The first time we hear of House Harroway in the historical record is early in the reign of the second King of Westeros. King Aenys Targaryen raised the Harroways to prominence by granting them Harrenhal, making them the third family to ever hold the castle. The lord during this era was one Lord Lucas Harroway. Lucas seems to have done a good job as Lord of Harrenhal, as he builds t

he town we later hear in the main series. In 'A Storm of Swords' Sandor and Arya search for this village, but find it has been washed away by a river on their way to the Twins. It’s a shame that it’s no longer there, but it lasted quite a while if Sandor knew about it during the main series. Two years later, Prince Maegor Targaryen married Lord Lucas’s daughter, Alys Harroway, in a secret Valyrian ceremony on Dragonstone, not unlike Rhaenyra and Daemon would do 100 years later. This upset a LOT

of people. Maegor already had a wife - the lovely Ceryse Hightower - and taking a second wife was a direct defiance of both the Faith and one of the most powerful houses in the realm, as well as his brother the King. Maegor was exiled because of this marriage, so he and Alys flew off to Essos on the back of Balerion the Black Dread. They remained there for three years, until the death of Maegor’s elder brother. Maegor returned to Westeros and claimed the throne for himself, alongside his Harrowa

y queen. What’s more, Lord Lucas actually served as his first Hand of the King. This is a massive amount of power to hold, only really rivaled in the historical record by houses like the Lannisters and Hightowers as they've had a Hand and a Queen at the same time. Unfortunately, it was at this point it seems that House Harroway flew too close to the sun... During the third year of Maegor’s rule, Alys gave birth to a monstrous stillborn child. Maegor was convinced by his third wife, Tyanna of the

Tower, that this was the result of Alys having affairs in King’s Landing, at Harrenhal, and in Lord Harroway’s town. This enraged Maegor, who began executing every Harroway he could find - including his wife and father-in-law. This noble house soon became the second ruling family of Harrenhal to be completely wiped out by a Targaryen monarch. Two years after the Harroway massacre, Tyanna of the Tower confessed to poisoning Queen Alys’ child in the womb. The entire slaughter was for nothing, and

all that remains of a house that had risen so far as to occupy the offices of Queen and Hand is a footnote in the historical record and a town that has been washed away. I’m unsure if Harrenhal is cursed, but if the Harroways are any indication, it may well be so. Thanks, Quinn. I've linked his channel in the description, so go ahead and give him a sub. After annihilating the Harroways, Maegor announced a melee to decide the new Lord of Harrenhal. Of the 23 knights who attended, only Ser Walton

Towers survived. The wounded knight became the new Lord of Harrenhal - but died of his wounds two weeks later. The castle passed to his son, Jordan. Lord Jordan Towers was a Maegor loyalist until the bitter end, although it's said he was one of the last men to see Maegor alive before his… mysterious death. Lord Towers yielded the Red Keep to Maegor's nephew Jaehaerys. He was stripped of much of his land, and later died of chest congestion. All of Jordan's sons had died fighting for the Cruel Ki

ng except one - Maegor Towers, who was just a child. He grew up to be a sickly man with empty coffers, but in his last years he became friends with Princess Rhaena Targaryen, the widowed sister of King Jaehaerys I. Maegor died a young man, and Rhaena took care of his household until she herself died a few years later. Fate had claimed another House… or, perhaps the curse had. Aemond: “It is such a joy to see how *strong* they have become; for they are such *strong* boys.” TOM: Wait no, I'm ahead

of myself! Hi, I’m Tom from the Interesting Nerd Club and I’m here to talk about the handsomest man in the Seven Kingdoms- ZAC: - and his... unique kids. TOM: - but first we gotta talk about a whole bunch of other stuff. When the Riverlands rose against Harrhen the Black in support of Aegon the Conqueror, House Strong rose with them, helping to roast alive the very family for whom Harrhenhal is named. Following the death of Lord Alton Celtigar, Ser Osmund Strong was named Hand of the King, a po

st which he held for 17 years of nation building and relative peace. ZAC: - As long as you count tensions and obvious political turmoil as "peace”. TOM: Which we do! In 55 AC following the completion of the Dragonpit, a great tournament was held outside King’s Landing, and Ser Lucamore Strong came away as the champion of the melee, defeating a Reyne and three different Baratheons. Following the Death of Ser Willem the Wasp the following year, Ser Lucamore became a knight of the Kingsguard. In 73

AC Aerea’s mother Princess Rhaena died, and as she was the acting Lady of Harrenhal, the great castle was in something of a succession crisis. After consideration, King Jaehaerys gave the castle and lands to Ser Lucamore’s brother, Ser Bywin Strong, but later that same year Ser Lucamore was convicted of breaking his Kingsguard oath by carrying on active relationships with three different people, and had started families with all of them. ZAC: He was dubbed Lucamore the Lusty and the singers wro

te a song about him, which presumably was like a ye olde Bloodhound Gang song. TOM: Ser Lucamore was sent to the wall and all of his 16 children were declared bastards. They were split up and sent to different corners of the realm. Some lived on as Storms, some Waters, and some were taken back to Harrenhal to live with their uncle Lord Bywin. These were called "Rivers". Don't worry, you haven't heard the last of those guys. Their channel is linked in the description below. In Part 2 we'll explor

e the fate of House Strong, as well as the other Houses who held Black Harren's Folly. To learn about a more prosperous House, check out this video about the wealthy Manderlys. Special thanks to Quinn the GM as well as Tom and Zac from the Interesting Nerd Club for helping me out with this video, and thanks to my Patron Alex for supporting the channel. Like and subscribe if you enjoyed, and I'll see you soon with Part 2! CAPTION GANG