Heartsbane, the Tarly family's ancestral Valyrian steel greatsword
Notable for
Being the only named field commander in the war without a single defeat, and for driving his son Samwell to the Wall
The one general in the war who has never lost a battle, and a father who nearly killed his own son for the crime of being gentle.
The Undefeated
Randyll Tarly, Lord of Horn Hill, fought for the Targaryen loyalists in Robert's Rebellion and commanded Lord Mace Tyrell's vanguard at the Battle of Ashford, personally cutting down Lord Cafferen and sending his head to King Aerys II — one of the loyalists' few victories in that war, though history has been generous enough to remember it as Mace's rather than Randyll's.
He went on to serve as one of Tywin Lannister's most capable bannermen during the War of the Five Kings, building a reputation as the closest thing the Seven Kingdoms has to an undefeated field commander — a record no other named general in the story currently matches.
A Father's Cruelty
Randyll's harshest campaign was fought at home: convinced his elder son Samwell was too soft, bookish, and cowardly to inherit Horn Hill, he gave the boy an ultimatum — take the black at the Wall, or be hunted and killed on a false pretext so the succession could pass cleanly to Samwell's younger, more soldierly brother Dickon. Samwell chose the Wall.
In the uneasy months that followed a change of power at King's Landing, Cersei pointedly declined to hand any Tyrell-aligned lord real power at court, and Randyll's army was left in the field instead — stationed chiefly at Maidenpool, rebuilding the town and hunting down outlaws and the war's leftover chaos with a thoroughness that leaves little room for trial. Only once circumstances at court shifted again, and Kevan Lannister took up the regency in earnest, was Randyll finally summoned to King's Landing and given the small council seat of Master of Laws she had always denied him.
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 7
Key events
282 ACCommands Lord Mace Tyrell's vanguard to victory at the Battle of Ashford, personally killing Lord Cafferen.
circa 282-299 ACBuilds a reputation as the Seven Kingdoms' only undefeated field commander.
297 ACForces his elder son Samwell to take the black at the Wall rather than inherit Horn Hill.
299 ACServes as one of Tywin Lannister's most capable bannermen during the War of the Five Kings.
300 ACStationed at Maidenpool rebuilding the town and hunting outlaws in the war's aftermath.
300 ACNamed Master of Laws on Tommen's small council by Lord Regent Kevan Lannister.
Reading the character
Randyll's undefeated military record and his cruelty toward Samwell are presented as two faces of the same rigid worldview: a man who values only the kind of strength he recognizes, and treats anything else — gentleness, bookishness, hesitation — as a failure worth disowning a son over. That the text lets Samwell's quieter courage eventually outshine his father's battlefield record is one of its more pointed rebukes of Randyll's own values.
He also stands as the war's clearest example of martial excellence going unrewarded by the court politics around it — passed over for real power at King's Landing for years despite an unmatched record, until circumstance rather than merit finally hands him the seat he'd long been denied.
The arc of Randyll Tarly
This carries the character’s road through the published novels. Read on only if you do not fear to know.
Randyll's summons to King's Landing follows two upheavals at court in quick succession: Tywin Lannister's murder at his own son's hands ends his first patron's regency before it can properly begin, and Cersei's own regency, briefer and far more chaotic, collapses in turn when the Faith Militant arrests her — clearing the way for Kevan Lannister's more orderly regency and, with it, Randyll's long-delayed council seat.
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
Randyll Tarly's record as a soldier is genuinely without equal in the story; his record as a father is the reason readers tend to remember Samwell's courage rather than his.
SourcesAGOTACOKASOSAFFCADWDTWOIAF
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Who is Randyll Tarly?
The one general in the war who has never lost a battle, and a father who nearly killed his own son for the crime of being gentle.
Is Randyll Tarly 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.