Commanding the Seven Kingdoms' second-richest and second-largest house, and being credited for victories his bannermen actually won
A lord who commands the Reach's wealth and numbers, and who has spent his life letting other men's competence be mistaken for his own.
Credit Where Others Did the Work
Mace Tyrell, Lord of Highgarden and head of the Seven Kingdoms' second-richest house, married Alerie Hightower and fathered four children of note — Willas, Garlan, Loras, and Margaery — and built his martial reputation on a single campaign of Robert's Rebellion in which the actual fighting was done largely by his own bannerman, Randyll Tarly, at the Battle of Ashford. Mace, present and titled, kept the credit that history remembers.
He commanded the Reach's siege of Storm's End during that same war until Lord Eddard Stark's arrival forced a bloodless surrender — two campaigns, one deserved reputation between them, and Mace has never seemed to notice the difference.
The Reach's Great Gamble
He threw the Reach's full strength behind first Renly Baratheon's claim to the throne, then — within days of that claim collapsing in the field, with barely a blush — behind the Lannister-held crown instead, arranging his daughter Margaery's marriage first to Joffrey and then, after Joffrey's own sudden and short-lived reign came to an end, to Tommen in quick succession, a pivot as cynical as it was successful.
He came to King's Landing to claim influence on the small council commensurate with the Reach's contribution to the crown's survival, and when the High Sparrow's Faith Militant arrested Margaery on charges of adultery, marched his own army to besiege the last Baratheon holdout at Dragonstone instead — reclaiming his family's martial pride, if not yet his daughter's freedom, as the published chronicle ends.
Appearances
In the novels
A Clash of Kings
A Storm of Swords
A Feast for Crows
A Dance with Dragons
On screen
HBO's Game of Thrones — Seasons 2–6
Key events
circa 270s ACMarries Alerie Hightower and fathers Willas, Garlan, Loras, and Margaery.
282 ACCredited with the loyalist victory at the Battle of Ashford, largely won by his bannerman Randyll Tarly.
282 ACCommands the Reach's siege of Storm's End during Robert's Rebellion until Eddard Stark's arrival forces a bloodless surrender.
299 ACBacks Renly Baratheon's claim to the Iron Throne.
299 ACTransfers the Reach's allegiance to King's Landing after Renly's murder, marrying Margaery to Joffrey.
300 ACMarries Margaery to Tommen after Joffrey's death at the Purple Wedding.
300 ACLeads the Reach's host to besiege Dragonstone after Margaery's arrest by the Faith Militant.
Reading the character
Mace is a study in how far borrowed competence can carry a man who never once doubts it is his own — his bannermen's tactics, his soldiers' numbers, and his children's marriages have done rather more for House Tyrell's standing than anything Mace has personally accomplished. His serial reallocation of the Reach's allegiance, first to Renly and then to the Lannister-held crown in short order, is played as cynical pragmatism rather than principle, and it works exactly as well as that kind of pragmatism tends to.
He also functions as a useful contrast to his own children — Loras's daring, Margaery's calculation, Garlan's steadiness — none of whom seem to have inherited Mace's particular gift for accepting credit that belongs to someone else.
The arc of Mace Tyrell
This carries the character’s road through the published novels. Read on only if you do not fear to know.
Renly's claim collapses because he is murdered at a parley near Storm's End; Joffrey's reign ends when he is poisoned at his own wedding feast. Mace pivots the Reach's allegiance within days of each — first from Renly to the Lannister-held throne, then, via Margaery's remarriage, from Joffrey's crown to Tommen's — arrangements more cynical than sentimental in either direction.
These partings name deaths, endings, and roads not yet ridden in the books. Unveil them only if both roads are known to you — or if you do not fear to know.
Legacy
Mace Tyrell's entire career is a study in how far borrowed competence can carry a man who never once doubts it's his own — his bannermen's tactics, his soldiers' numbers, and his children's marriages have done rather more for House Tyrell than anything Mace has personally accomplished.
SourcesACOKASOSAFFCADWDTWOIAF
Explore further
House
Who is Mace Tyrell?
A lord who commands the Reach's wealth and numbers, and who has spent his life letting other men's competence be mistaken for his own.
Is Mace Tyrell from the books or the show?
Book canon. This profile follows George R. R. Martin’s novels and histories, and notes where the television series diverges rather than following it.