Malentine Velaryon

During the reign of Viserys I Targaryen, Malentine's cousin Ser Vaemond Velaryon claimed Driftmark for himself, arguing that Lord Corlys's chosen heir, his grandson Lucerys, was no true-born son. Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, Lucerys's mother, had Vaemond's head for the accusation.

Malentine and his brothers pressed the same claim before an ailing Viserys I, but made the mistake of questioning the legitimacy of Rhaenyra's own children in front of the king. Viserys had their tongues cut out for the insolence, though he let them keep their heads.

The cut tongues did nothing to cool Malentine's resentment, nor his brothers'. When war split the Targaryens, they took up arms for Aegon II and the Greens, even though House Velaryon as a whole had declared for Rhaenyra and the Blacks.

The war claimed nearly all of Malentine's brothers; of them all, only Ser Rhogar lived through it at his side.

After the war, Alyn Velaryon's succession as Lord of the Tides was challenged by several of his own cousins. Malentine and his surviving brother brought their claim once more before the council in King's Landing, and when the Hand of the King and the regents ruled against them, Vaemond's sons Daemion and Daeron Velaryon accepted the verdict.

Malentine and Rhogar did not. Lacking tongues to make their appeal, as Mushroom tells it, they "preferred to argue with swords," and plotted to kill their young lord. The plot failed when Driftmark's guards held loyal to the memory of Lord Corlys Velaryon and the heir he had chosen.

Malentine died in the attempt. His brother was taken and sentenced to death, but Ser Rhogar kept his head by choosing to take the black.