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Game of Thrones: The Mad King is a play set in the world of George R.R. Martin’s mega-popular A Song of Ice and Fire series (adapted to television in HBO’s A Game of Thrones). It’s being staged at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, and Martin recently revealed on his Not a Blog that the play will depict the Tourney at Harrenhal, the infamous event which directly led to Robert’s Rebellion.
Martin’s blog post can be read below.
“There’s a tournament coming this summer. Lord Whent is hosting it, from his seat at Harrenhal, the largest castle in the Seven Kingdoms. It looks to be a grand event, Rhaegar Targaryen will be on hand, the prince of Dragonstone and heir to the Iron Throne. The Starks are coming down from Winterfell, Eddard and his brothers Brandon and Benjen and their lovely sister Lyanna. Her betrothed will also be on hand; Robert Baratheon, the young lord of Storm’s End. Howland Reed of Greywater Watch will attend, fresh from his visit to the Isle of Faces. Lord Jon Arryn will [be there] along with Bronze Yohn Royce, Richard Lonmouth, the Kingsguard knights Jonothor Darry, Barristan Selmy, and Arthur Dayne will be among the competitors, along with Robert Baratheon, the dashing young Lord of Storm’s End [Martin mentions Robert twice], and a monstrous knight out of the Westerlands they call The Mountain That Rides. The fairest flowers of the Seven Kingdoms will attend to cheer them on, including Ashara Dayne, with her laughing purple eyes, and the Dornish beauty Elia Martell, Prince Rhaegar’s lady wife. Even the king will be there, Aerys II of House Targaryen, the Mad King. I’m planning on attending myself.
Secrets And Plots
As you can imagine, The Tourney at Harrenhal is one of the most important events in Westerosi history, especially in relation to characters from the series that we’re most familiar with.
There’s been some debate in the fandom about whether The Mad King will be canonical, as there will almost certainly be new information revealed about the events of the tourney. In fact, Martin’s blog post has already revealed that Ser Gregor Clegane, The Mountain That Rides, will be in attendance at the tournament, which hadn’t been previously confirmed.
We knew that Rhaegar knighted Gregor (possibly in an ill-advised attempt to recreate the dynamic of his great-grandfather Aegon II Targaryen and Ser Duncan the Tall), and we can now safely assume this happened before The Tourney at Harrenhal.
Of course, nothing is set in stone until it’s published.
There are additional mysteries which will likely be unearthed in The Mad King. For example, the involvement of the royal spymaster Varys in the events immediately preceding the rebellion isn’t fully clear. We know Varys tipped Aerys off that Rhaegar was potentially using the tournament as a pretext to gather the realm’s great lords in one place to discuss deposing his father. However, we don’t know the full extent of Varys’ plans, and whether he was actively involved in sparking the rebellion or other tangential decisions like the addition of Jamie Lannister to the Kingsguard, an event that took place at the tourney’s opening ceremonies.
We will also certainly learn more about the relationship between Rhaegar and Lyanna, which remains one of the series’ greatest mysteries. The Mad King is set to focus heavily on the pair’s tragic relationship, which ends up inadvertently causing Robert’s Rebellion and the collapse of the Targaryen Dynasty.
Some fans are upset about potential major reveals being made outside the main book series, though this has become commonplace in the fifteen years since the release of A Dance With Dragons.
There’s also a chance that The Mad King is non-canon, though Martin has not specified whether this is the case or not.
