Since Renly didn’t talk about the incest did he give any excuse for his attempt to take the throne other than ”i will be a great king”.

opinions-about-tiaras:

racefortheironthrone:

Nope. Renly’s campaign pitch was: A. the glamour and magnificence of his person and his court, and B. the size of his battalions, while trying to get everyone to forget about the larger implications of any of it. 

As usual, Stannis puts it best: 

“Good men and true will fight for Joffrey, wrongly believing him the true king. A northman might even say the same of Robb Stark. But these lords who flocked to my brother’s banners knew him for a usurper. They turned their backs on their rightful king for no better reason than dreams of power and glory, and I have marked them for what they are.”

In fairness to the Tyrells and the Stormlords, turning your back on your rightful king for no better reason than power, glory, and sometimes a desire to not go down with a sinking ship has a long and proud tradition in Westeros. House Tully’s entire Lord Paramountcy rests on them being the first ones to sink a knife into the Hoare‘s back, for example.

If Renly wins and he’s a shitty king, the Tyrells and the Stormlords look like fools who supported an incompetent usurper who drove the kingdom into the ground and probably caused another war shortly thereafter. If he’s middling-to-good, they got in on the ground floor of a new dynasty.

In the case of the Stormlords… I have always inferred that in any Westerosi civil war, backing your Lord Paramount’s play is, in general, the “safe” play. Even if their side loses, you can lay down the “I was only following orders” card and probably get away scot free, or maybe with a slap on the wrist. But if you bail on your Lord Paramount, the side you’re bailing for had better win, or you’ll end up like the Darrys and the Conningtons, whose lead loyalty to their King over their Lord Paramount won them massive losses of fortune, land, and status. Whereas if you stick with your Lord Paramount… well, something tells me that when Mace Tyrell bent the knee, Robert didn’t strip too many of his lords of lands and wealth despite sticking with Aerys “to the bitter end and well beyond.”

Well it’s long but it’s hardly proud – lots of people who ended up on the wrong side of the Dance or the Blackfyre Rebellions could attest to that.

But yes, the Stormlords had something of an excuse, that they were bound by feudal agreement to give service to their liege lord. The Tyrells and the Reacher Lords had none.