Harlen Tyrell

Before he was lord of anything, Harlen served as High Steward of Highgarden under King Mern IX Gardener. His family carried Gardener blood through the female line, back to Garth Gardener, but that alone gave no strong claim to a throne.

Mern IX fell at the Field of Fire, and with him the line of the Gardener kings went out. When Aegon Targaryen reached the gates of Highgarden, it was Harlen who came out to bend the knee.

Aegon could have chosen other houses with closer ties to the Gardeners. He picked Harlen instead, partly because Harlen had never taken up arms against him, and made him Lord of Highgarden and warden of the whole Reach.

A few years into the seat were enough for doubts to creep in, once the Targaryens turned their sights on Dorne. It didn't stop him being a vassal — when Aegon called his banners, Harlen answered.

The First Dornish War swallowed him. Harlen and the army he led vanished into the sands in the year 5 After the Conquest, and what became of them was never made clear.

His son Theo Tyrell succeeded him as Lord of Highgarden.