Margaery Tyrell

Margaery was born in 283 at Highgarden, the seat of House Tyrell. She was the only daughter of Mace Tyrell and Alerie Hightower, with three brothers.

As a child, her elder brother Willas would read to her and draw her pictures of the stars; from him she also learned to ride, a pastime she never gave up.

Before anyone spoke of marriages, Renly Baratheon shows Eddard Stark a small portrait of Margaery kept in a locket and asks whether the girl resembles Lyanna Stark. Eddard, uncomfortable with the question, answers that there is no resemblance at all between the two. Behind the question lies a scheme: Renly and Loras Tyrell wanted King Robert to take Margaery as his mistress, thereby easing Queen Cersei out of court.

During the Tourney of the Hand, in his own pavilion, the king tells Ned that Renly keeps speaking of Loras's sister, a fourteen-year-old girl he likens to a sunrise. Shortly after, Margaery marries Renly, sealing the Tyrell alliance behind his claim to the throne.

Margaery follows Renly and his army on their slow march toward the capital. At Bitterbridge, after the tourney there, she offers her condolences to Catelyn Tully over her husband's death; Catelyn herself notices, during the banquet, that Renly pays more attention to Loras than to his new wife.

Word soon arrives that Stannis Baratheon has laid siege to Storm's End, Renly's own seat. He rides off with his cavalry, leaving Margaery in command of the infantry at Bitterbridge. When news comes that Renly has died during the siege, the court sends Petyr Baelish to treat with the Tyrells, who end up allying with the Lannisters instead. Margaery returns to Highgarden, only for her family to send her out again, this time to marry King Joffrey.

Margaery arrives in King's Landing with her grandmother Olenna Redwyne and a retinue of ladies, among them her cousins Alla, Elinor and Megga. The city greets her with cheers: the Tyrells have handed out food to the people for the occasion.

She invites Sansa Stark to dine with the women of her family and so learns what Joffrey is really like. Together with Olenna, she hatches a plan to marry Sansa to Willas and so claim her rights over Winterfell, but Tywin Lannister uncovers it and forces his son Tyrion to marry the girl instead. Margaery attends that wedding and feels genuine pity for the bride.

Margaery's own wedding to Joffrey ends with the king dead, poisoned at his own feast. Everything points to Olenna behind the poison, dropped into the cup they were sharing, which makes it hard to believe Margaery knew nothing. Widowed before the marriage was consummated, she is betrothed to Tommen, the dead king's younger brother.

After Tywin Lannister's funeral, Margaery marries Tommen and sets about winning his affection. Cersei, who sees her as a threat, begins maneuvering against the Tyrells by attacking the claim that Margaery remained a maiden through her marriage to Renly; a septa examines her and confirms she is not, though Cersei points out that riding often erases that proof in highborn girls anyway. Cersei even pushes Osney Kettleblack to seduce her, but gets only mockery in return.

As queen, Margaery buys fruit and bread at the markets, orders gowns from local seamstresses, and hands out alms surrounded by a colorful retinue. She encourages Tommen to ride before his people and to sit in on small council meetings, but Cersei blocks every one of her suggestions. When word comes of an ironborn attack on the Shield Islands, she asks that the sieges of Storm's End and Dragonstone be lifted; Cersei refuses. Soon after, news reaches her that her brother Loras lies dying at Dragonstone.

Cersei accuses Margaery of treason and adultery, gathering false evidence and a list of paid witnesses. Under torture, the Blue Bard invents a list of supposed lovers: Osney Kettleblack, Ser Tallad, Lambert Turnberry, the Summer Islander prince Jalabhar Xho, and several others.

Margaery is arrested and locked away to await a trial by the Faith. In her cell she confronts Cersei, telling her plainly that she knows exactly who is behind the accusations. In time, one of the key witnesses breaks under torture and exposes the plot; Cersei ends up a prisoner by the very same road she had built for Margaery.

The evidence against Margaery and her cousins proves too flimsy to hold up, so the Faith releases them into the custody of Randyll Tarly to await the date of the trial. Margaery chooses to be judged by the seven of the Faith rather than by combat.