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| “ | I once vied for Queen Rhaenyra's hand, before she wed Ser Laenor. I always liked her spirit. She had the true blood of the dragon. | „ |
| ~ Willem Blackwood |
| “ | Your grace, and once you and your dragon bring the Queen's Justice to the Brackens, our armies will be yours. | „ |
| ~ Willem promising to pledge his allegiance to Daemon Targaryen if he punishes House Bracken for swearing fealty to Aegon II Targaryen. |
| “ | Justice has been done! They, who bent the knee to the usurper had been brought to heel! | „ |
| ~ Willem Blackwood justifying his raids on the Bracken lands. |
Ser Willem Blackwood is a supporting character in the television series House of the Dragon. A member and knight of House Blackwood, he is the younger brother of Lord Sawmell Blackwood and the uncle and regent of Lord Benjicot Blackwood, Samwell's son.
Willem is also a staunch supporter and vassal of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and the Blacks during the Dance of the Dragons and served as a loyal ally to Prince Daemon Targaryen. However, his actions during the civil war made him greatly despised by the Riverlords for his brutal and savage atrocities against House Bracken, a rival house of House Blackwood, even though Willem attempted to justify this with the fact that the Brackens had betrayed Rhaenyra in favor of her half-brother King Aegon II Targaryen.
He was portrayed by Jack Parry-Jones and was portrayed as a teenager by Alfie Todd.
Biography[]
Willem Blackwood was born to House Blackwood of Raventree Hall, one of the oldest and ancient houses in the Riverlands, who continued to worship the Old Gods, and is also known to have a very old, long and bitter feud with House Bracken for centuries. Willem was a younger brother of Lord Samwell Blackwood and uncle to Benjicot Blackwood.
Season 1[]
Willem is amongst the many suitors who vied for the hand of Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, who is skeptical of his youth. When Jerrel Bracken, one of the suitors, sardonically mocks Willem and his house, Rhaenyra, amused by this, remarks that she is starting to like Jerrel. Upset over being rejected, Willem turns to leave, causing Jerrel to call him a craven.
Angered by this insult, Willem engages in a duel with the latter. Though Jerrel gains the upper-hand and manages to knock the former to the floor, Willem managed to fatally wound him, to the horror of the lords and ladies present, including Jerrel's father, Lord Humfrey Bracken. As Jerrel dies, Willem becomes nauseous and began to throw up.
Season 2[]
Many years later, during the early stages of the Dance of the Dragons, Willem, now a knight and serving as Lord Benjicot Blackwood's regent, is summoned to Harrenhal by Queen Rhaenyra I's King Consort, Daemon Targaryen. Having sworn his allegiance to Rhaenyra and the Blacks, Willem offers Daemon the support and levies of House Blackwood in exchange for his aid along with that of his dragon Caraxes against House Bracken.
He and Daemon then go to meet with Lord Amos Bracken, the head of House Bracken and Lord of Stone Hedge. They attempt to pressure him to swear allegiance to Rhaenyra. When Amos insults House Blackwood and the late Lord Samwell, who was killed during the Battle of the Burning Mill, an enraged Willem urges Daemon to kill him. After Amos defiantly rejects Daemon's terms and returns to his lands, Daemon orders Willem to launch a terror campaign on House Bracken's lands and smallfolk, so as to force the Brackens to surrender and to make it look like that he wasn't acting on the Crown's orders.
Raiding Lambswold and Mory and taking Stone Hedge[]
Willem Blackwood and his forces go on a destructive rampage in House Bracken's territory, including the villages Lambswold and Mory. The Blackwood forces raided and razed septs, fields and farms, making off with the villages' livestock and slaughtering many innocent smallfolk, while women and children were abducted. Willem's raids were so overwhelming that this caused the Bracken forces to disperse, allowing Willem to storm and capture Stone Hedge, the ancestral seat of the Brackens.
House Blackwood's victory over its rival forced Lord Amos to surrender and his house immediately switch their allegiance to Rhaenyra. However, due to how barbaric and appalling the raids were, this was met with outrage by many Riverlords, including Lords Darry, Petyr Piper and Walys Mooton, and Lady Mallister. As Willem and his forces had carried the banners of House Targaryen during the raids, this caused the Riverlords to deduce that Prince Daemon had sanctioned the raids himself.
As a group, they went to Harrenhal to confront Daemon over this fact. Even though Daemon tried to justify his reasons, they continued to denounce his actions and Willem's raids, with Walys Mooton pointing out that Willem and his men are "beasts who carried the banners of House Targaryen". Lady Mallister firmly makes it clear to Prince Daemon that whether he is dragon or not, she and the Riverlords will not give their support to a tyrant like him.
Death[]
Later at Harrenhal's godswood, Willem and Amos are part of a gathering of Riverlords who continue to despise Daemon for allowing Willem to commit war atrocities against House Bracken and their smallfolk. Despite Willem's justification over his raids, in which he reminded the Riverlords that Amos is a traitor, due to the latter's allegiance to King Aegon II and the Greens, Lord Oscar Tully, the young grandson of the late Lord Grover Tully and Willem's new liege lord, dismisses this excuse, as he wants Willem to be held accountable for his crimes.
Oscar then forces Daemon to execute Willem in an act of contrition in order to appease the Riverlords and so he could be deserving of the Riverlands' support. Willem's pleas go unheard by both Daemon and Oscar, while a satisfied Amos looked on, and Willem was executed by Daemon, who used his sword Dark Sister to behead him. With Willem Blackwood's death, the many smallfolk who were brutally killed during the raids were avenged and the Blacks gained the support of House Tully and the Riverlands.
Trivia[]
- In George R. R. Martin's novels, there is no character named Willem Blackwood who lived during the Dance of the Dragons, as he is a creation of the TV series House of the Dragon.
- In Fire & Blood, as Willem never existed in the novels, the raids on the Bracken lands were carried by Lord Samwell Blackwood, before the Battle of the Burning Mill, which is the climax of these raids in this version. After Samwell's death, the taking of Stone Hedge was led by Prince Daemon.
- There are theories that Willem Blackwood's death had directly spurred Daemon's visions at the heart tree of Harrenhal's godswood. House Blackwood is well-known for being one of the few houses in the south that still worship the Old Gods, which often demand blood sacrifice to feed its roots. Thus by executing Willem in front of the heart tree and spilling Blackwood blood and sacrificing his earliest ally in the Riverlands, Daemon had likely pleased the Old Gods enough that they provided him a means of realisation and redemption.
