  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | Beside the name of Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, who wielded the Valyrian sword Dark Sister. He died defending King Aegon the Unworthy from assassins, though the king had insulted Aemon throughout his reign and had well earned his fate because Prince Aemon had sworn our oath. | „ |
| ~ Jaime Lannister describing the death of Aemon the Dragonknight at the hands of the Brothers Toyne. |
The Brothers Toyne are minor characters in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. They are the unnamed brothers of Ser Terrence Toyne, a Kingsguard to King Aegon IV Targaryen, and are members of House Toyne, a currently extinct noble family of the Stormlands. After Terrence was caught abed with one of King Aegon's mistresses and was executed as a result, this drove the Brothers Toyne to make an attempt on the king's life as revenge for the loss of their brother, but were both slain by the king's brother Prince Aemon Targaryen, who was the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
The brothers' attempted (but failed) assassination is what brought their family's downfall. Like Daemon I Blackfyre and Aegor Rivers, they are used by several characters in the main series, such as Stannis Baratheon, as an infamous example on why traitors should be punished without mercy.
Biography[]
When Ser Terrence Toyne of the Kingsguard was caught abed with Bethany Bracken, one of the many mistresses of King Aegon the Unworthy, the latter had them executed, even though the two had already proclaimed their love. Terrence was tortured and then executed via dismemberment while Bethany was forced to watch before she was executed as well. The death Terrence Toyne greatly enrage his brothers, who sought to murder King Aegon in an act of vengeance but were thwarted by Prince Aemon Targaryen, famously known as Aemon the Dragonknight, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. While the Brothers Toyne were slain, however, they managed to kill Prince Aemon in turn. Ultimately, all fighters had died in the end.
Legacy[]
Because of their actions and the attempt they had on King Aegon's life as well as their killing of Aemon the Dragonknight, the Brothers Toyne are negatively remembered in the official histories as as infamous traitors who betrayed the Iron Throne for vengeance and have earned nothing but death in the end for their attempted murder of Aegon the Unworthy. Their betrayal and Ser Terrence Toyne's oathbreaking ultimately resulted in House Toyne falling from grace.
This would lead the Toynes to become enemies with the Targaryens, and Simon Toyne, a descendant of Terrence and the Brothers Toyne, would form an infamous outlaw organization known as the Kingswood Brotherhood so as to harass the Targaryens and the Westerosi nobility by robbing and holding nobles for ransom until their eventual downfall in the reign of King Aerys II Targaryen.
Recent history[]
A Storm of Swords[]
The Brothers Toyne (along with Daemon I Blackfyre, Grand Maester Hareth, a Vulture King, and Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen) were mentioned by King Stannis Baratheon as an example of traitors paying their treachery with their lives, while deciding to execute Lord Alester Florent for treason.
