1. Stannis.
2. No.
I think if you want the kingdoms to split, you would need both Robert AND Stannis to die.
Excuse me but there’s still Renley who was quite loved by the general public & was a good politician for peaceful times. Wasn’t he the brother running the government in KL anyway?
@winelover1989 fair point, but wasn’t renly a young kid by then?
If the entire Baratheon line had been killed, then they would have just traced up the Targ family tree until they found a suitable candidate. The best tie by blood I could see would be the Martells, the second best would be House Plumm.
Then again if Robert and his hatred for the Targs died with him, that would leave Ned, Jon Arryn and Hoster Tully the defacto leader of the rebellion, and they could just as easily invite Rhaella back to the capital with Viserys to take the place as King. Or if Ned found Lyanna, put Jon on the throne with a regent.
I could be wrong.
I’ve seen this scenario around the web in various places, but I don’t think it’s particularly plausible. Installing a Targaryen after you’ve overthrown and killed multiple Targaryens in the name of a non-Targaryen is a very good recipe for being executed when that Targaryen comes of age. However merciful Jon Arryn and Co. were, they were not blind to their own interests.
But that also assumes that the new Targareyen king would be loyal to the old Targaryens. Rhaella was abused by Aerys, and Visereys would be young enough to be molded into more acceptable to the rebels. And young Jon could DEFINITELY fit that mold.
It’s a bit fan ficy, but still not unreasonable.
Edward III wasn’t a fan of his dad, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to kill Roger Mortimer when he came of age…
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