Qarl Corbray

In 43 AC, Lord Qarl joined the host that Prince Aegon the Uncrowned raised at Pinkmaiden, rising against King Maegor I Targaryen.

When the king intercepted that host at the Gods Eye, Corbray saw the trap closing: he urged the prince to strike the loyalist armies one at a time, before they could join forces. Aegon refused to split his men, and the battle was lost with him in it.

In the slaughter, Corbray crossed swords with Ser Davos Darklyn of the Kingsguard and killed him. He was wielding Lady Forlorn.

Six months of trials followed. Queen Visenya spoke for the rebel lords, and though many lost lands, titles, and even hostages, Lord Qarl kept his head and survived the rest of Maegor's reign.

With Maegor I dead, the new king Jaehaerys I named Corbray commander of the City Watch and gave him a seat on his small council, a gesture meant to draw together men who had stood on opposite sides. The council helped govern in the boy king's name, still under the regency of his mother, Queen Alyssa Velaryon, and his Hand, Lord Rogar Baratheon. Corbray also represented the Vale at the Golden Wedding, alongside Lord Arryn.

When the regent queen looked for a bride for Jaehaerys, she considered a match from House Corbray, in recognition of Qarl's support for Prince Aegon. The king instead married his own sister, Princess Alysanne, in private, and Lord Rogar turned against them both, set on removing Jaehaerys and the young heir, Princess Aerea.

Corbray refused to join him: his City Watch, he said, would never allow it. Grand Maester Benifer wrote that he feared above all a repeat of the horror at the Gods Eye, this time with dragon against dragon. When Queen Alyssa dismissed Rogar as Hand and he answered that no woman could remove him, Corbray drew Lady Forlorn, laid it on the table, and answered with a single word. Rogar yielded.

On the regent queen's order, Corbray also hid Princess Aerea and kept Ser Ronnal Baratheon from carrying her off to Storm's End.

Jaehaerys I came of age in 50 AC, and Corbray remained at the head of the City Watch. Four years later, when the High Septon died, he and Lord Daemon Velaryon argued for a show of force: Corbray offered to lead an army to block the elevation of Septon Mattheus, an outspoken enemy of the Targaryens.

When the dragon Balerion returned to the capital carrying the dying Princess Aerea, Corbray was inspecting the watch posts on the city's east side. Later, when the king considered naming Septon Barth his Hand, Corbray reminded him of the man's low birth; Jaehaerys paid it no mind.

In 59 AC, a winter plague known as the Shivers swept the realm. Lord Qarl Corbray, commander of the City Watch of King's Landing for nearly a decade, fell ill and died in the capital.