House Arryn

Mandon Moore

House: House Moore, a minor landed knightly house of the Vale of Arryn; Kingsguard sworn to Joffrey I
Titles: Ser · Kingsguard
Allegiance: Kingsguard of King Robert I and King Joffrey I Baratheon
Seat: none (a minor landed knight of House Moore)
Culture: Vale of Arryn
Religion: The Faith of the Seven (presumed)
Weapon: a knight's longsword (unnamed)
Notable for: A Kingsguard knight of notably unreadable temperament who fought at the Battle of the Blackwater

Fought at the Battle of the Blackwater in the fighting along the riverfront, defending the city alongside the rest of the Kingsguard.

Even his fellow Kingsguard found Ser Mandon Moore difficult to warm to — a knight the text repeatedly describes through other characters' unease, a man whose eyes gave away nothing at all, which several of them find considerably more disturbing than a temper they could read. He came south from the Vale, brought to King's Landing by Lord Jon Arryn and raised to the white cloak under Robert Baratheon — a grant of the Kingsguard's honor that, by the text's own account, neither Robert nor Jon Arryn seems to have made out of any particular fondness for the man himself. He went on to serve in Joffrey's Kingsguard with the same flat, unreadable competence he brought to everything else.

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

unknownBorn to House Moore, a minor landed knightly house of the Vale of Arryn.
before 298 ACBrought south to King's Landing by Lord Jon Arryn and raised to the Kingsguard under Robert I.
298 ACKept on in the Kingsguard after Robert's death, serving the newly crowned Joffrey I.
299 ACFights at the Battle of the Blackwater defending the city against Stannis Baratheon's assault.
299 ACTurns on Tyrion Lannister mid-battle, slashing his face nearly to the bone in an attack Tyrion later believes was no accident of war.
299 ACDrowns in the Blackwater Rush after Podrick Payne shoves him from his feet, his own armor dragging him under before he can finish the blow.

Reading the character

Mandon Moore is one of the story's clearest studies in a man who never lets anyone read him. Fellow Kingsguard and observers alike found him unsettling less for anything he did than for what his flat, unreadable manner concealed — a blankness the text uses more than once to explore how much weight other characters project onto a person who simply doesn't give anything away.

That opacity extends to his loyalties. Raised to the Kingsguard through connections rather than any obvious personal warmth from either Jon Arryn or Robert Baratheon, Moore served each king he was assigned to with the same flat competence, giving the reader — and his fellow knights — very little to go on about what, if anything, actually motivated him.

The arc of Mandon Moore

This carries the character’s road through the published novels. Read on only if you do not fear to know.

Kept in the Kingsguard after Robert Baratheon's death, Moore served the newly crowned Joffrey with the same flat competence he'd always shown. During the Battle of the Blackwater, he turns on Tyrion Lannister mid-fight, first offering a hand to pull him from the water and then slashing his face nearly to the bone before moving to finish him — an attack Tyrion, on waking, becomes convinced was a paid assassination rather than battle-madness. Podrick Payne shoves Moore into the Blackwater Rush before he can land the killing blow; the weight of his own armor drags him under. Cersei Lannister, in her own later chapters, never once thinks of Mandon Moore or the attempt on her brother's life — a silence the chronicle notes without being willing to call it proof of anything.

Where the books leave Mandon Moore: Mandon Moore's white cloak ended in the river he tried to drown Tyrion Lannister's squire's suspicions in — and whether the order that sent his blade at Tyrion's face came from Cersei Lannister, from Moore's own private grudge, or from nowhere the text is willing to name, the chronicle has never been able to settle.

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

SourcesACOK · TyrionASOS · TyrionTWOIAF · The Reign of Robert I

Explore further

House

Who raised Mandon Moore to the Kingsguard?

Lord Jon Arryn brought him south from the Vale of Arryn to King's Landing, where he was raised to the white cloak under Robert Baratheon.

Why did other Kingsguard find Mandon Moore unsettling?

The text describes him almost entirely through his fellow knights' unease — a man whose eyes gave nothing away, which several of them found considerably more disturbing than a temper they could actually read.