  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, strong drug use, extremely traumatic themes, 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. |
Ser Loras Tyrell, also known as the Knight of Flowers, is a supporting character in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation Game of Thrones. He is a knight from House Tyrell and the third son of Lord Mace Tyrell and Lady Alerie Hightower. He is the younger brother of Willas and Lord Garlan Tyrell, and the older brother of Queen Margaery Tyrell. He is famous for being one of the most skilled knights in the Seven Kingdoms. Before his knighthood, he squired for Lord Renly Baratheon, the Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, who eventually knighted him. During the War of the Five Kings, he initially supports the rebellion and claim of his lover King Renly I.
He is sixteen years old during his appearance in the first novel, and seventeen or eighteen by the end of the fifth novel.
In the TV series he is presented as the only son of Lord Tyrell and heir to Highgarden. He was portrayed by Finn Jones.
Biography[]
A Song of Ice and Fire[]
Loras Tyrell is a skilled knight famed for his many tournament victories and his good looks, which make him popular with the smallfolk and he was is one of the few knights who has managed to unhorse Ser Jaime Lannister in a joust, during the Tourney in honor of Prince Joffrey's 12th nameday.
He participates in the Hand's Tourney, entering the lists for the jousting competition, in which he unhorses all his opponents, including Ser Robar Royce. He makes it to the semifinal, along with the Clegane brothers, Ser Gregor "the Mountain" and Sandor "the Hound". In his semifinal match, Loras cheats by using a mare in heat, which makes Gregor's own fierce and short-tempered stallion to act up, distracted by the mare. Loras jousts against the Mountain, who struggles to control his warhorse, and beats him, causing Gregor to lose his chance to become the champion and win the prize money. In a fit of rage, Gregor decapitates his own warhorse and attacks Loras with the intent of killing him. Loras is saved only thanks to the intervention of the Hound, who briefly fights against his brother, and due to the stopping of the fight by King Robert I Baratheon, who causes Gregor to come back to his senses and storm out of the tourney grounds. Loras thanks Sandor and decides to give the final joust's victory to him, much to the cheers and approval of the spectators.
Game of Thrones[]
Loras Tyrell is a skilled knight famed for his many tournament victories and his good looks, which make him popular with the smallfolk and he was is one of the few knights who has managed to unhorse Ser Jaime Lannister in a joust.
He participates in the Hand's Tourney, entering the lists for the jousting competition. During his match against Ser Gregor Clegane, Loras cheats by using a mare in heat, which makes Gregor's own fierce and short-tempered stallion to act up, distracted by the mare. Loras jousts against the Mountain, who struggles to control his warhorse, and beats him, causing Gregor to lose his chance to become the champion and win the prize money. In a fit of rage, Gregor decapitates his own warhorse and attacks Loras with the intent of killing him. Loras is saved only thanks to the intervention of the Hound, who briefly fights against his brother, and due to the stopping of the fight by King Robert I Baratheon, who causes Gregor to come back to his senses and storm out of the tourney grounds. Loras thanks Sandor and praises him to the spectators, much to their cheers and approval.
Loras was the first of Lord Renly Baratheon's supporters to claim the Iron Throne over Renly's nephews Prince Joffrey and Prince Tommen Baratheon, and Renly's brother, Lord Stannis. In fact it was Loras who encouraged him to act this way and rode with him out of King's Landing hours just before King Robert's death. Apparently this also caused Lord Mace Tyrell to give Renly the power and strength of Highgarden, calling all his sworn vassals of the Reach to join Renly's cause, with most of them doing so.
However, after King Renly's murder, Loras, on Lord Petyr Baelish's advice, comes to his sister's side to help House Lannister to defeat King Stannis' army and in return King Joffrey I will be betrothed to his sister, so that she will become Queen.
Loras was meant to be betrothed to Queen Regent Cersei, though she hated the plan and tried to stop her much to the chagrin of her father.
After Tywin's death, Cersei restores the Faith Militant, the Faith's military order, who take over King's Landing and arrest Ser Loras for sodomy. Loras denies this but the High Septon summons Peter Baelish's witness, Olyvar, and his testimony incriminates him. Loras tries to hit him but is repelled by the guards and arrested along with his sister who testified falsely on his behalf. Loras is given a long prison term that completely breaks him and he decides to ask at his trial to join the Faith Militant, even at the cost of the Highgarden inheritance. At his trial he is offically accepted into the order by marking the seven-pointed star on his forehead. However Cersei has the Great Sept of Baelor burned to the ground with wildfire, and Loras is caught in the explosion alongside his sister and father.
Trivia[]
- In the TV show, Willas and Garlan Tyrell were omitted, and some of their roles or similar ones were given to Loras.
- Loras' mother, Alerie Hightower, was also cut from the show, while in the books she is present at court in King's Landing and met Sansa. Alerie attended both of her daughter's weddings to Joffrey and Tommen. Loras' grandfather, Leyton Hightower, did not attend any of them and stayed at Oldtown. Alerie, Olenna and Garlan are currently back to Highgarden.
- In the show, Loras, Margaery and their father are the ones determined to achieve their ambitions to enter the royal life. In the novels, all of this is caused by the personal ambitions of Mace (who acts like an egotistical lord and not like a comedic relief) and Renly, the former having a deep desire to see his daughter become queen and the latter marrying her and making Mace his Hand of the King. Book version of Loras is merely portrayed as a supporter following the whims of both his lover and father.
- In Season 3 of the show, where he was cut and only mentioned, Mace's character was portrayed as the same as his book counterpart through Olenna's dialogues. In both books and show, Olenna opposed Loras and Mace's support for Renly, but Mace dismissed her advice.
- In the TV show, Brienne killed two of Renly's Kingsguards, Ser Robar Royce and Ser Emmon Cuy. This does not happen in the novels, where only Emmon, in a fit of grieving rage, attacks Brienne along with a few men-at-arms, after a brief verbal confrontation. After being convinced by Catelyn that Brienne was innocent, Robar intervened and helped Brienne and Catelyn to escape. When Loras found out that Renly was murdered and that Brienne escaped, he personally killed both Emmon and Robar in a fit of rage, for failing to protect Renly and not doing their duty to arrest Brienne. In his dying moments, Robar swore to Loras that he didn't kill Renly.
- Loras deeply regrets having killed Robar and Emmon and has guilt about it. When Sansa brought up Robar and Renly's names, Loras became upset and aggressive. He confesses his guilt to his Lord Commander Jaime.
- In the novels, Loras accused Brienne of Tarth of killing Renly and did not believe Stannis would do something like that. In the show version, he immediately believes Brienne to be innocent and blames Stannis. In the book version, Loras and many others speculated that Brienne killed Renly in a fit of pained rage, claiming that she tried to approach him romantically and then killed him after being rejected over her homely appearance.
- After meeting again in King's Landing, some time after Jaime had to stop Loras from attacking her, Brienne had to explain Loras the whole story about Stannis's shadow, which left Loras confused about what to believe.
- In the show, Loras replaces his brother, Garlan Tyrell, as the commander of the vanguard of the Reach's army during the Battle of the Blackwater, in which Loras wears Renly's armor. In the books, it is Garlan who is clad in Renly's armor and leads the van, personally killing Ser Guyard Morrigen, the commander of Stannis's van and former Rainbow Guard of Renly. After this, Garlan became "Renly's Ghost", and for his role in saving King's Landing, he was raised to a lord and granted the lands and incomes of House Florent, the hated rivals of the Tyrells.
- The Florents continue to hold their castle seat, Brightwater Keep, against the Iron Throne and the Tyrells. Thanks to Euron Greyjoy's unexpected brutal invasion of the Reach, the Tyrells are unable to lay siege to Brightwater, having to focus on Euron and his ironmen.
- Despite the Florents being rebels and Stannis's supporters, the Hightowers are secretely hosting the attainted Lord Alekyne Florent in Oldtown, in their home, the High Tower. This due to the fact that Alekyne is the brother of Lady Rhea Hightower, born Rhea Florent, and thus her husband, Lord Leyton Hightower, who is Loras's grandfather, is hiding Alekyne and not reporting him nor handing him over to his grandson Garlan. The Tyrells have Ser Erren Florent, younger brother of Selyse as their hostage in Highgarden.
- The Florents continue to hold their castle seat, Brightwater Keep, against the Iron Throne and the Tyrells. Thanks to Euron Greyjoy's unexpected brutal invasion of the Reach, the Tyrells are unable to lay siege to Brightwater, having to focus on Euron and his ironmen.
- In the show, Olenna attempts to have Sansa Stark betrothed to Loras in order to gain a claim on Winterfell. After Loras confides this to Olyvar, the latter reports this to Littlefinger, who in turn informs Tywin. Tywin counters this by forcing Olenna to accept a betrothal between Loras and Cersei, the latter being pressured by Tywin to marry. To claim Winterfell, Tywin weds Tyrion to Sansa.
- This is different in the novels, in which Olenna and her son Mace attempt to have Sansa betrothed to Willas Tyrell, the heir to Highgarden, always in order to gain a claim on Winterfell. After Sansa excitedly confides this to the court fool Dontos Hollard, the latter reports it to Littlefinger, who in turn informs Tywin, who then discusses the matter with Lord Mace. The arrogant and ambitious Mace is upset over Sansa's betrothal to Tyrion, whom he personally despises, and acts entitled and insulted at Tywin's refusal to let Sansa marry Willas. Mace pressures Tywin to have a Lannister married to a Tyrell, frustrating Tywin for his constant demands for more power.
- However, unlike the show, in which Cersei was being forced to marry only Loras, in the books Tywin gave his daughter 3 choices of husband: Willas Tyrell, Oberyn Martell, or Balon Greyjoy. Oberyn to unite the Houses Lannister and Martell, while Balon to form a royal alliance between Houses Lannister and Greyjoy, in which the independent Iron Islands rule over the North, and Tyrion can be their Warden through his marriage to Sansa, Tywin's daughter is Queen Consort of the Isles and the North, and Westeros is ruled by a "Baratheon"-Greyjoy alliance supported the Lannister-Tyrell one. As the Iron Islands allow polygamy and Balon's queen wife is still alive, Cersei would have been one of Balon's two queens. Tywin's grandchildren through Cersei and Balon would've been royalties, giving Tywin influence and relevance over the Iron Islands and the North. For Willas, Tywin had many other female Lannisters to offer to Mace, in order to please his demands, like Kevan's daughter, Janei. Like in the show, Cersei was furious about all this.
- This is different in the novels, in which Olenna and her son Mace attempt to have Sansa betrothed to Willas Tyrell, the heir to Highgarden, always in order to gain a claim on Winterfell. After Sansa excitedly confides this to the court fool Dontos Hollard, the latter reports it to Littlefinger, who in turn informs Tywin, who then discusses the matter with Lord Mace. The arrogant and ambitious Mace is upset over Sansa's betrothal to Tyrion, whom he personally despises, and acts entitled and insulted at Tywin's refusal to let Sansa marry Willas. Mace pressures Tywin to have a Lannister married to a Tyrell, frustrating Tywin for his constant demands for more power.
- In the novels, no one can marry Loras, as he joined the Kingsguard at the end of the second book specifically to stay by Margaery's side and protect her and to remain celibate.
- However, it was his father Mace, who forced Joffrey to let Loras into the Kingsguard, or else he wouldn't allow the marriage with Margaery. As Littlefinger deliberately spread tales of Joffrey's cruelty at Highgarden, Loras, Mace, Olenna, and the other Tyrells never had any trust for the boy king. Loras assured to his concerned father and grandmother that he would protect Margaery from Joffrey.
- Olenna, however, favored having Joffrey killed because she feared that the hot-headed Loras would have ended up killing Joffrey in a fit of rage for hurting Margaery, becoming another kingslayer and getting executed. To avoid this, Olenna preferred to have Joffrey assassinated and let Margaery marry the more tractable and gentle Tommen. It's unknown if Mace had any part in this scheme, though this appears to be unlikely, as he was extremely upset about Joffrey's poisoning due to the fact that the king shared his cup with Margaery during the wedding feast, and Mace was convinced that Tyrion meant to target his daughter. So unless he was acting to avert all suspicions from House Tyrell, Olenna acted independently on this one, although even her involvement isn't fully confirmed in the books, as it's simply a mere suggestion coming from Littlefinger.
- When asked by Jaime why he doesn't want to marry, Loras answered "when the sun has set, no candle can ever replace it", referring to his loss with Renly.
- However, it was his father Mace, who forced Joffrey to let Loras into the Kingsguard, or else he wouldn't allow the marriage with Margaery. As Littlefinger deliberately spread tales of Joffrey's cruelty at Highgarden, Loras, Mace, Olenna, and the other Tyrells never had any trust for the boy king. Loras assured to his concerned father and grandmother that he would protect Margaery from Joffrey.
- In the show, Loras' entire role in the Kingsguard and his battle against Stannis's garrison at Dragonstone were completely omitted in favor of an entirely different storyline with the Faith. In the books, Loras was allegedly wounded and disfigured grieviously with boiling oil by Stannis's knights, and is currently struggling to survive, allegedly being recovered in serious life-threatening conditions, possibly dying.
- The reason why Loras turned the siege of Dragonstone, which was meant to be a typical very long and tedious siege, into a bloody storming attack (with Loras's side suffering most casualties), is because of Euron conquering the Reach and enslaving the population. Cersei declared that Stannis is the Throne's public enemy number one and refused to give priority to Euron, going as far as to speculate that Stannis is the mastermind of the Reach's invasion, and Euron just his secret bannerman. Only after Loras took Dragonstone, Cersei granted the Redwyne fleet leave to sail back south to deal with the Ironborn threat.
- In Season 7 of the show, Dragonstone was shown to be completely deserted, while in the books Stannis sent a raven from the Wall to Dragonstone, instructing the castle's garrison to start mining dragonglass so he could have it shipped north.
- The reason why Loras turned the siege of Dragonstone, which was meant to be a typical very long and tedious siege, into a bloody storming attack (with Loras's side suffering most casualties), is because of Euron conquering the Reach and enslaving the population. Cersei declared that Stannis is the Throne's public enemy number one and refused to give priority to Euron, going as far as to speculate that Stannis is the mastermind of the Reach's invasion, and Euron just his secret bannerman. Only after Loras took Dragonstone, Cersei granted the Redwyne fleet leave to sail back south to deal with the Ironborn threat.
- Although only implied in the novels, George R. R. Martin confirmed that Loras and Renly were lovers. The TV show portrayed this outright.
- In the TV show, Loras is the one responsible for causing Renly's ambition to become king, and he is portrayed as the one in control of their relationship, while Renly is afraid of violence.
- This is not the case in the novels, in which it is Renly himself who decided to become king after his brother died. Renly is muscled, large and much more smug, arrogant, happy and egotistical than his television counterpart, and acts like a proper warrior. In his relationship with Loras, Renly is shown to be the one in control. Loras is 16 in the first book, while Renly is 21, and it is implied the two were in a relationship when Loras was a younger teenager, serving as Renly's squire. While Renly looks more masculine, Loras is the one who looks feminine. Jaime is convinced that in bed Loras is the bottom of their relationship.
- Unlike the show, where their relationship is one of the worst-kept secrets at court, the relationship between Loras and Renly in the novels is the source of speculation and not known to many, with some people, like Jaime, simply personally believing it exists. Other characters, like Catelyn Stark and most nobles of the realm have no idea that Renly and Loras were lovers. Most of the nobility and the smallfolk see Loras as just Renly's best friend, except for people who spent enough time around the two. Stannis and Loras' immediate paternal family members seem to be aware of the secret relationship. In the TV version, even the smallfolk know about Loras' homosexuality.
- In Season 2 of the TV show, Loras gives Catelyn a remark of criticism toward her son Robb, commenting that he should come to negotiate with Renly himself, not "hiding behind his mother's skirts." In the novels, it is not Loras who makes such remark, but instead Randyll Tarly, who's quick to criticize people as cowards and unmanly. In addition, Lord Tarly calls Robb weak for keeping Jaime captive instead of executing him, while Loras doesn't make such statement.
External Links[]
- Loras Tyrell on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Loras Tyrell on the Wiki of Westeros.
