The Kingsguard
Seven knights sworn to die for the king and keep his secrets to the grave. Where the order came from, the vows that bind it, the White Book that remembers it, and the finest — and foulest — knights ever to wear the white cloak.
The order of the white cloaks
The Kingsguard is the sworn shield of the king's own person — seven knights, no more and no fewer, held to be the finest blades in the Seven Kingdoms. They wear white: white cloaks, white scale, white shields without device, so that a Kingsguard is known at a glance and belongs to no house but the king's.
The histories record that the order was founded in 10 AC, in the reign of Aegon the Conqueror, after an attempt on the king's life as he rode through the Wyl in the Dornish marches — an assassin's blow turned only because Queen Visenya was near enough to draw Dark Sister and cut the man down herself. She told her brother-husband plainly that his life had hung on too slender a thread, and that no king should trust it to guards who were not sworn to die for him. The seven were chosen soon after, their vows modeled on the black brothers of the Wall: to serve for life, forsake wife, lands, and children, keep the king's secrets, and set his life above their own.
SourcesFire & Blood · The World of Ice & Fire
The vows of a white knight
- To shield the king from harm at the cost of their own lives.
- To obey the king's commands.
- To keep the king's counsel, and guard his secrets to the grave.
- To take no wife, hold no lands, and father no children.
- To set aside their own houses, ambitions, and quarrels.
- To serve until death — for once a man dons the white cloak, he wears it to his pyre.
There is no single verse recited as the black brothers recite theirs; the duties are sworn and understood. The hard truth of them is this: a Kingsguard obeys his king, and a king may be a monster. More than one white cloak has learned that shielding the crown and doing right are not always the same oath.
The White Book
In the White Sword Tower, where the seven make their home, there stands a great book bound in white leather with pages of the finest parchment. It is the roll of the brotherhood: a leaf for every knight who has ever worn the cloak, from the first seven to the present, set down with his lineage, his deeds, and the manner of his death.
It falls to the Lord Commander to keep the book current — to inscribe each new brother, and to write the final lines of those who fall. A knight's whole worth may be measured in how much of his page is filled; some have earned volumes and been given lines, and some have filled less than half a leaf with a lifetime.
SourcesA Feast for Crows
Famous members, by era
The Conquest & the age of dragons
The first seven, and those who guarded the Targaryen kings while dragons still flew.
Ser Corlys Velaryon
the first Lord CommanderRemembered by the histories as the first to lead the seven, when the order was newly forged in Aegon's reign.
The Dance of the Dragons
When the dragons turned upon one another, the white cloaks were not above the fighting.
Ser Criston Cole
'the Kingmaker'Lord Commander who, the histories hold, set the crown on Aegon II's head against the rightful claim of Princess Rhaenyra, and so helped light the fire that consumed half of House Targaryen.
The Blackfyre years & Summerhall
White cloaks of the twilight of the dragons.
Ser Duncan the Tall
Lord Commander to Aegon VA hedge knight's boy who rose to command the seven, and who died with his king and his oldest friend in the fire at Summerhall, still guarding him at the last.
The old guard: Aerys II & the Rebellion
The knights of the last dragon king, whose deaths scattered the finest generation the order ever knew.
Ser Gerold Hightower
'the White Bull', Lord CommanderThe very picture of a Kingsguard, who served with unbending honor even as his king went mad — and died in the red mountains of Dorne guarding a secret.
Ser Arthur Dayne
the Sword of the MorningWielder of the pale greatsword Dawn and reckoned by many the finest knight ever to draw breath. He fell at the tower of joy — bested, it is said, only by treachery and numbers.
Ser Oswell Whent
A black bat on his helm and a keen blade beneath it; one of the three who kept the tower of joy to the death.
Prince Lewyn Martell
The only Dornishman ever to wear the white, who led the Dornish spears at the Trident and died there beside his king's cause.
Ser Jonothor Darry
A stern and loyal blade of the old king's seven, cut down upon the Trident.
Ser Barristan Selmy
'Barristan the Bold', Lord CommanderThe living legend of the order, who carved his way into Duskendale to free a captive king, served Aerys and then Robert, and whose name fills more of the White Book than almost any other.
Ser Jaime Lannister
'the Kingslayer'Named to the seven at seventeen, the youngest ever, and forever marked for what he did in the sack of King's Landing — driving his sword through the back of the king he was sworn to protect.
Estas separações nomeiam mortes, desfechos e estradas ainda não percorridas nos livros. Desvele-as apenas se ambas as estradas te forem conhecidas — ou se não temes saber.
The Lord Commanders
The line of Lord Commanders is not wholly preserved, but its brightest and its blackest names endure — the first, the kingmaker, the white bull, the bold, and the kingslayer among them.
- Ser Corlys VelaryonThe first to lead the seven.
- Ser Criston ColeThe Kingmaker of the Dance.
- Ser Duncan the TallFallen at Summerhall.
- Ser Gerold HightowerThe White Bull, last of Aerys II's commanders.
- Ser Barristan SelmyBarristan the Bold, kept his cloak from Aerys into Robert's reign.
Estas separações nomeiam mortes, desfechos e estradas ainda não percorridas nos livros. Desvele-as apenas se ambas as estradas te forem conhecidas — ou se não temes saber.
Who are the seven members of the Kingsguard?
The Kingsguard is always seven knights, no more and no fewer, led by a Lord Commander. The most celebrated of the old guard served King Aerys II: Ser Gerold Hightower the White Bull, Ser Arthur Dayne the Sword of the Morning, Ser Oswell Whent, Prince Lewyn Martell, Ser Jonothor Darry, Ser Barristan Selmy, and Ser Jaime Lannister. The seven of the later boy-kings — a decidedly more uneven company — are named in the roster, veiled for those who would not be spoiled.
When and why was the Kingsguard founded?
The histories place its founding in 10 AC, in the reign of Aegon the Conqueror. The tale holds that after an attempt on the king's life in the Wyl of the Dornish marches — turned aside only because Queen Visenya was close enough to draw Dark Sister and kill the assassin herself — she insisted the king be shielded by seven knights sworn to die for him. Their vows were modeled on those of the Night's Watch.
What is the White Book of the Kingsguard?
The White Book is the great white-leather tome kept in the White Sword Tower, holding a page for every knight who has ever worn the cloak — his lineage, his deeds, and the manner of his death. The Lord Commander keeps it current. A knight's worth can be read in how much of his page is filled; some earned volumes, and some barely half a leaf.
Can a member of the Kingsguard marry or resign?
No. Like the black brothers of the Wall, a Kingsguard forsakes wife, lands, and children, sets aside his own house, and serves for life. There is no honorable resignation — a white knight wears the cloak to his pyre. A king may strip a man of it in disgrace, but a Kingsguard cannot simply lay it down.