Of the seven men who wore the white cloak in the last years of Aerys the Second's reign, Jonothor Darry is among the two or three the published chronicle troubles to describe least — no famous duel, no dying quip preserved in another man's dream, only a name on the roll of Kingsguard who rode to war and the fact of his death recorded by those who outlived him. What the text does preserve is secondhand and brief: Ser Barristan Selmy, recalling the rebellion's end decades later, numbers Jonothor among the good men he served beside and lost on the same terrible day, a small epitaph but not a nothing one, coming from a knight as sparing with praise as Selmy.
House Darry
Jonothor Darry
- Life
- 283 AC, at the Battle of the Trident
- Titles
- Ser · Kingsguard
- Allegiance
- Kingsguard of King Aerys II Targaryen
- Seat
- none (a knight of House Darry; the family seat passed to other kin)
- Culture
- Riverlands
- Religion
- The Faith of the Seven (presumed)
- Weapon
- a knight's longsword (unnamed)
- Notable for
- One of the least individually recorded Kingsguard of Aerys II's reign; died at the Trident
A knight of the Kingsguard killed defending Prince Rhaegar at the Battle of the Trident, at the rebellion's decisive and final field engagement.
Where they appear
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.
Key events
- birth date unknownBorn to House Darry, a riverlands family holding lands near the Trident.
- before Robert's RebellionTakes the white cloak of the Kingsguard, serving Aerys II Targaryen.
- 282-283 ACRobert's Rebellion breaks out; Darry rides with Prince Rhaegar Targaryen's host to meet Robert Baratheon's forces.
- 283 ACFights at the Battle of the Trident, the rebellion's decisive engagement.
- 283 ACDies in the same rout that kills Prince Rhaegar and Ser Lewyn Martell, leaving only Barristan Selmy and Jaime Lannister of Aerys's seven Kingsguard alive.
Reading the character
Jonothor Darry is close to a null set in the published text — a name, a white cloak, and a death recorded by the men who survived him, with almost nothing filled in between. That absence isn't a flaw in the story so much as an honest acknowledgment of scale: seven men wore the Kingsguard's cloaks under Aerys II, and not every one of them could be Arthur Dayne or Barristan Selmy. Some were simply competent knights who died doing the job.
What little the text does preserve comes from Barristan Selmy, who decades later still numbers Darry among the good men he served beside and lost at the Trident — a spare epitaph, but a real one, from a knight not given to loose praise. Darry's near-anonymity is itself a kind of argument: the Kingsguard's white cloak covered plenty of forgettable men doing their sworn duty right up until it killed them.
The arc of Jonothor Darry
This carries the character’s road through the published novels. Read on only if you do not fear to know.
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.
In the timeline
SourcesAGOT · EddardADWD · The Discarded KnightTWOIAF · Robert's Rebellion
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House
How did Jonothor Darry die?
He was killed at the Battle of the Trident, fighting in Prince Rhaegar's host — the same battle that killed the prince himself and Ser Lewyn Martell.
What house did Jonothor Darry belong to?
House Darry of the riverlands, a minor house that would later host Tyrion Lannister at its seat early in A Game of Thrones — a coincidence of geography rather than any recorded family connection to Jonothor himself.