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| “ | We should put every man of them to the sword, and sell their wives and children to the slavers of the east. Let the seagulls and the crabs claim those worthless rocks. | „ |
| ~ Johanna to Alyn Velaryon |
Lady Johanna Lannister, née Westerling, is a major character in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series.
Born to House Westerling, she is the daughter of Lord Roland Westerling, the wife of Lord Jason Lannister and the mother of Cerelle, Tyshara, her youngest child and only son, Loreon, and three other daughters.
During the Dance of the Dragons, a civil war between the supporters of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and King Aegon II Targaryen, after her husband was killed in battle, she ruled Casterly Rock as regent for her son, who became the new Lord of the castle. During the civil war, she became the archenemy of Lord Dalton Greyjoy, who supporterd Rhaenyra by raiding the Westerlands with his Ironborn.
After Dalton was assassinated by one of his own salt wives, Johanna exacts her revenge on the ironborn for their raids on the Westerlands by invading and sacking the Iron Islands, leaving death and mass destruction in her wake while taking Dalton's son Rodrik hostage before making him a court fool for Lord Loreon. She later helped in rebuilding King's Landing.
Biography[]
Not much is known of Johanna's early life, but she was born as the daughter of Lord Roland Westerling and an unknown woman, making her a member of House Westerling, who served as a noble house to House Lannister. At some point, probably during the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen, she married Lord Jason Lannister, and through their marriage, she officially joined with the Lannisters. She would eventually give birth to their two eldest daughters, Cerelle and Tyshara, their youngest child and only son, Loreon, and three other daughters. Jason was not loyal to his wife, however, as he kept mistresses even throughout their marriage, even having favorites. Jason was known to have several bastard daughters.
Dance of the Dragons[]
During the Dance of the Dragons, in which the two half-siblings Rhaenyra and Aegon II Targaryen clashed with each other for the Iron Throne, Johanna's husband sided with the Greens, the supporters of King Aegon, as his own brother Tyland is closely associated with the crown and is favored at court. As open-war raged between the Greens and the Blacks, who support Rhaenyra, Jason Lannister assembled a great army and led them to aid the Greens in battle against the Blacks.
In 130 AC, in the Battle at the Red Fork, the Lannister army (alongside Houses Reyne, Tarbeck, Crakehall, Swyft and Lefford) secured a victory at the Red Fork against the forces of House Piper and House Vance of the Riverlands, who support the Blacks. Unfortunately, for the Greens, Lord Jason was killed in battle, and with his death, his young son Loreon, succeeded him as the new Lord of Casterly Rock, but as he was too young to rule on his own, Johanna Lannister ruled as regent in his stead.
However, Lord Dalton Greyjoy, famously known as the Red Kraken, took advantage of Jason Lannister's absence and sailed with his ironborn to the Westerlands, as his nominal lieges, Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen, allowed him to plunder that region. Though Lady Johanna had barred the gates to Casterly Rock, the ancestral seat of the Lannisters, which prevented the ironborn from storming the castle, Lord Dalton nevertheless captured most of the Lannister fleet before burning the rest and sacking Lannisport.
Regency of Aegon III Targaryen[]
According to semi-canon sources, Johanna "donned man's mail" to lead the remaining Lannister forces in the struggle to drive the ironborn from their shores. In the next two years following the Dance of the Dragons and during the regency of the Young King Aegon III Targaryen, Dalton Greyjoy ruled the Sunset Sea. When Johanna Lannister began building a new fleet on behalf of Lord Loreon Lannister, her shipyards were, unfortunately, burned by Dalton's ironborn, who took a hundred women as salt wives.
After her men defended the castle of Kayce and slew Dalton's favorite uncle, Johanna sends a ragtag fleet to invade and liberate Fair Isle, which was under ironborn control at that time.
Johanna's revenge[]
Johanna Lannister's revenge.
In 133 AC, after the Red Kraken was murdered by one of his salt wives, a girl called Tess, this resulted in a power struggle in the Iron Islands, allowing Fair Isle to revolt. A year later in 134 AC, Johanna Lannister takes her revenge out on the ironborn for Dalton's raids by having Ser Leo Costayne, the Lord Admiral of the Reach, lead his fleet and her vassal forces of the Westerlands to the Iron Islands to intervene in the ironborn's war of succession. During the invasion, while Leo was killed, his army scattered and three quarters of his fleet sunk or captured, hundreds of ironborn longships and villages were destroyed by the westermen, who also massacred many women and children during their rampage.
Amongst the many casualties were nine of Dalton Greyjoy's cousins, along with two of his sisters and their husbands. Ironborn Lords Botley, Drumm, Goodbrother, Harlaw, Stonehouse, and Volmark were also killed. Though the Westermen failed to conquer Pyke, the ancestral seat of House Greyjoy, they were able to take Dalton's salt son Rodrik hostage. Lady Johanna has him gelded before making him a court fool for Lord Loreon Lannister. As they fled the Iron Islands, the Westermen, while taking highborn hostages with them, proceeded to steal or destroy the ironborns' stores of grain and fish as spoils of war. Consequently, due to the lack of food, a great famine struck the Iron Islands and thousands of ironborn had starved to death by the end of the year.
Rebuilding King's Landing[]
Lady Johanna was able to reclaim House Lannister's dwindling glory and she helped King's Landing repair the extensive damages caused by the Dance of the Dragons by providing financial aid to the capital.
