The Red Keep
Seat of the Iron Throne — raised by House Targaryen, held since 283 AC by House Baratheon
- House
- House Baratheon
- Region
- King's Landing, the Crownlands
- Raised by
- Aegon the Conqueror; finished by Maegor the Cruel
- Age
- Begun in the first years after the Conquest
The stones themselves
The Red Keep crowns Aegon's High Hill in stone the colour of old blood, seven great drum-towers strung along a massive curtain wall above the city and the Blackwater. Aegon began it; Maegor the Cruel finished it, and — so the darkest tale runs — put every mason, carpenter, and builder to the sword when the work was done, that the secrets of its passages might die with them. The result is a castle riddled with hidden stairs and tunnels that even those who dwell there have never fully mapped.
Famous halls and features
The Iron Throne
A monstrous seat of a thousand swords surrendered to Aegon and fused in dragonflame — barbed, jagged, and deliberately uncomfortable, for a king should never sit easy.
Maegor's Holdfast
A squat, thick-walled keep within the keep, ringed by a dry moat lined with iron spikes — the last redoubt should the outer walls ever fall.
The black cells
Lightless dungeons sunk deep in the hill, reserved for the realm's most dangerous prisoners, where a man may lose all reckoning of day and night.
The dragon skulls
Once the skulls of the Targaryen dragons hung along the throne-room walls, from Balerion's cavernous maw down to the last stunted hatchlings — banished to the cellars by King Robert, who had no love of dragons.
Sieges and history
Where the story of The Red Keep touches the great chronicle of the realm — follow each thread back into the timeline.
A legend of The Red Keep
It is whispered that Maegor's secret passages still honeycomb the hill, and that more than one who walked them uninvited was never seen again. Whether the tunnels killed them or merely the men who guard their secrets, the chronicle cannot say — but a castle built on murdered masons keeps its confidences well.
Beyond the chronicle's edge
What befell the Red Keep when a green fire lit the river is a matter for those who have read on.
Estas bifurcaciones nombran muertes, finales y sendas que los libros aún no han recorrido. Desvélalas solo si conoces ambos caminos, o si no temes saber.
Common questions
Who built the Red Keep?
Aegon the Conqueror began the Red Keep, and his son Maegor I completed it. The tale that Maegor executed the workmen so its hidden passages would stay secret is repeated as history within the castle itself.
Where is the Iron Throne kept?
The Iron Throne stands in the throne room of the Red Keep, in King's Landing. Forged from the surrendered swords of Aegon's enemies and the fire of the dragon Balerion, it is the seat of whoever rules the Seven Kingdoms.
What are the black cells?
The black cells are the deepest and darkest dungeons of the Red Keep, sunk into Aegon's High Hill and kept for the most important or most dangerous prisoners. They are lightless, so that captives lose all sense of time.
Are there secret passages in the Red Keep?
Yes. Maegor the Cruel is said to have riddled the castle with hidden stairs and tunnels, then killed the builders to keep them secret. Several characters use these passages to move unseen through the keep.