Bronn

Bronn is a sellsword who becomes one of Tyrion Lannister’s closest men. Though of low birth, he rises to become a knight. Through his cunning, he raised himself from being a lowly sellsword to becoming Lord Stokeworth. However, though he was in many ways loyal to Tyrion, his greatest motivation was money. Before his rise into knighthood, he became the Captain of Guards for Tyrion when his father, Lord Tywin Lannister, sent him to King’s Landing to serve as the acting Hand of the King and save Westeros from the terrible decisions of Queen Cersei Lannister and her cohorts.

Bronn Personal Details

• Name: Bronn.
• Year of Birth: around 264 – 268 AC.
• Titles: Captain of the Guards, Ser.
• Aliases: Ser Bronn of the Blackwater, Lord Stokeworth.
• Allegiances: House Lannister, City Watch of King’s Landing, House Stokeworth.
• Coat of Arms: A flaming chain, Green, A bendwise sinister on smoke-grey.
• Wife: Lady Lollys Stokeworth.
• Eye Color: Black.
• Hair Color: Black.
• Culture: Andal.Religion: Faith of the Seven.

Appearance and Personality

Bronn is a tall, slim man with black eyes and dark hair which falls to his neck. He has stubble and paints a devious smile on his face. To match his smile is a dark sense of humor and an amoral view of life. He is quick to his feet and swift as a cat. Though he is skilled and cunning, he is illiterate.

For his attire, he wears boiled leather over oiled black ringmail. To match is a steel halfhelm, a mail coif, and a nose guard. For his weapons, he wields a longsword and a long dirk. Because he uses both hands for combat, he does not use a shield in battle. 

Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire

A Game of Thrones

When Lady Catelyn Stark and Ser Rodrik Cassel reach the Inn at the Crossroads on their way back to Winterfell, they meet Tyrion Lannister. Catelyn orders the men at the Inn to arrest Tyrion for the attempted murder of her son Bran and Bronn, with his friend, Chiggen, decides to come along, hoping to get some money for their services.

On the way to the Vale, Catelyn’s party gets attacked by the clans of the Mountains of the Moon. After the battle, Bronn takes the boots of a Lannister guard, Jyck, after he dies. On the way, he grows closer to Tyrion. Another attack occurs, leaving Chiggen wounded. Bronn finishes him silently and lies to Catelyn, saying he died from his wounds. The party eventually reaches the Eyrie.

Upon meeting Lysa Arryn, Tyrion gets sentenced for his crimes. However, he chooses trial by combat, and Bronn agrees to fight Ser Vardis Egen. He loses a tooth but successfully kills Ser Vardis and joins Tyrion’s service. Tyrion gets released, and on traveling back to the Riverlands, he meets the clans of the Mountains of the Moons and recruits them for his cause. On the road, Tyrion tells Bronn how he once married a low-born woman called Tysha and how his father humiliated his wife.

On returning to his father’s camp, Tyrion instructs Bronn to get him a woman, and he brings Shae. Lord Roose Bolton leads a force against the Lannisters in the Battle of the Green Fork but fails. After the battle, Tywin Lannister sends Tyrion back to King’s Landing to serve as the acting Hand of the King.

A Clash of Kings

On getting to King’s Landing, Bronn hires about eight hundred sellswords and tasks them with protecting the city walls and Tyrion. He becomes the captain of guards and is unimpressed by the wight’s hand that got delivered to the Iron throne by Ser Alliser Thorne.

Tyrion orders Bronn to find a thief, poisoner, murderer, and mummer to infiltrate Riverrun and free his brother, Ser Jaime Lannister, but the plan gets foiled when Ser Edmure Tully discovers the spies. Tyrion sneaks into Chataya’s brothel to meet Shae, while his closest man pairs with a Dornish girl.

When King Joffrey I Baratheon orders the Kingsgaurd to beat Sansa Stark after the Battle of Oxcross, Tyrion orders Timett and Bronn to protect her.

After sending Myrcella Baratheon to Dorne, a riot occurs as people get angry at the increasing lack of food and resources in King’s Landing. During the riot, Bronn protects his master.

When Stannis starts sailing for King’s Landing, Tyrion orders Bronn to burn the waterfront between Blackwater Rush and the city’s walls. The Battle of the Blackwater begins, and Bronn gets put in charge of oxen that pull the massive chain blacking Stannis’s fleet from escaping the wildfire trap set by Tyrion.

Before almost getting consumed by Stannis, the Lannister army and Tyrells, led by Lord Tywin Lannister and Lord Mace Tyrell, save Kings Landing. For his bravery, Bronn becomes one of the six hundred men knighted by Ser Osmund Kettleblack, Ser Balon Swann, and Ser Meryn Trant of the kingsguard.

A Storm of Swords

Upon learning of her children’s death, Catelyn Stark frees Jaime and tasks Brienne of Tarth with returning him to King’s Landing in exchange for Sansa and her sister, Arya. After becoming a knight, Bronn starts visiting Chataya’s brothel. He helps Tyrion investigate the dead Ser Mandon Moore, who tried to kill Tyrion during the Battle of the Blackwater.

Tyrion gets forced to marry Sansa, and Bronn attends the wedding. When the singer Symon Silver tongue tries to blackmail Tyrion, Bronn kills him. Later, he and Podrick Payne accompany Tyrion to meet Prince Oberyn Martell of Dorne.

During King Joffrey’s wedding to Margaery Tyrell, he dies from the strangler. To prevent Bronn from supporting Tyrion, Cersei arranges a marriage between him and Lollys Stokeworth, Lady Tanda Stokeworth’s daughter. When Tyrion asks him to fight on his behalf in a trial by combat, he rejects the offer. Oberyns agrees and gets killed by Ser Gregor Clegane. Later, the Starks get killed by Lord Walder Frey.

A Feast for Crows

Lady Tanda Stokeworth informs Cersei that Bronn named the bastard son of his wife, Tyrion Tanner. At Castle Stokeworth, Bronn takes in four knights, and Cersei fears he is still working with Tyrion. Lollys’s sister’s husband, Ser Balman Byrch, challenges him to a fight and gets killed. He becomes Lord Stokeworth. When Falyse tells Cersei what happened, the Queen Regent orders Qyburn to use her for his experiments.

A Dance with Dragons

While in exile in Essos, Tyrion Lannister tries to gain the favor of the Second Sons by explaining how he raised Bronn from a common sellsword to a knight.

Appearance in Adaptations

In HBO’s Game of Thrones, Jerome Flynn portrayed Bronn. He appeared in seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 and starred in 36 episodes. Though of low birth, Bronn rose in ranks from becoming the Commander of the City Watch of King’s Landing to Lord of Highgarden, Lord Paramount of the Reach, and the Master of Coin. Though he supported the Lannisters in Daenerys’s quest for the Seven Kingdoms, he eventually sided with the Starks. 

Before becoming a man of high standing, Bronn was a cutthroat who cared about nothing but money. However, he met Tyrion and began protecting him. Tyrion tells Bronn he feared the debt incurred by the Iron Throne from the Iron Bank of Braavos, as the bank was known to support rebellions against clients who did not repay their loans. The sellsword eventually got command of the King’s Landing City Watch and helped Tyrion in his cause.

Before the Battle of the Blackwater, he drinks at a bar and narrates how he broke his nose. He states that the first time was an accident, and the second time was during a fight with some older boys. He and Sandor Clegane almost fight as Sandor mocks him stating he thinks he is a hard man.

Bronn: The Cunning Sellsword

Bronn’s story shows how someone can rise from nothing to the top if they are devious enough. When Catelyn ordered Tyrion’s arrest, he saw an opportunity to make money. However, along the way, he realized that fighting on Tyrion’s side was much better as his father was the wealthiest man in the Seven Kingdoms. By seizing the opportunity, he catapulted himself to a place of high standing.

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