The Riverlands

"The Riverlands" is the thirteenth short of the third season of Histories & Lore. It is the fifty-sixth short of the series overall. It was released on February 18, 2014 in Game of Thrones: The Complete Third Season. It was narrated by Clive Russell as Brynden Tully and written by Dave Hill.
==Premise==
==Narration==
Brynden Tully: Men have fought over the Riverlands since the Dawn Age, but that's to be expected of things that rest below the Neck.
Doesn't help that the Riverlands are between everything and everything else. The Westerlands' gold, the Reach's grain, the Vale's rock and the North's... snow?
House Mudd once ruled as the Kings of the Rivers and Hills, but after a thousand years, their line was exhausted and fell to the Storm Kings, who fell to the Ironborn. I suppose after years of drowning at sea, our rivers looked pretty attractive to that race of pirates and rapers.
Never mind that their monstrous castle, Harrenhal, was too large to staff and garrison. It turned out the Ironborn would not be there long enough to bother. Aegon Targaryen landed to our south and, as had many before him, liked the look of the Riverlands.
My ancestor Edmyn Tully led the desertion of Riverlords to his cause and was rewarded by getting to watch King Harren burn in his own tower.
Unfortunately, that's not all Edmyn got. House Tully was named the Lord Paramount of the Trident, which means we had to keep in line all those lords who hadn't governed themselves for thousands of years. We were now responsible for aiding the Mallisters at Seagard against the pouting Ironborn, whenever they got cheeky.
For settling Harrenhal on families stupid enough to think its curse would skip them, after devouring all previous families.
For keeping the Blackwoods and Brackens from wiping each other out, and giving us two more castles to deal with. For keeping the Freys in their place and out of others' pockets. For marrying off our sons and daughters wisely enough so that we didn't follow House Mudd into, well, the mud.
Yet under the Targaryens, the Riverlands knew a peace we hadn't had for centuries, if ever. But like all good things, sooner or later, it all goes to shit. And our shit had a name. Aerys Targaryen.
Westeros has had its share of Mad Kings, but usually, they had the sense not to bully more than one powerful house at a time. Aerys soon blundered into a triple alliance. The North, the Stormlands, and the Vale rose against him.
But of course, where do you think most of the blood was spilled? My brother Hoster guaranteed the answer to that with the marriage of my niece to Eddard Stark, the Warden of the North. At least Hoster didn't send her to Robert.
So, the Riverlands joined the war against the Mad King; and it was on one of our rivers that Prince Rhaegar died, sealing the fate of his dynasty.
Robert was a great soldier and a horrible king. Drinking and whoring are their own brand of madness when you sit on a throne that everybody wants. He died and another war started. Again the armies marched, again the Riverlands burned.
If Westeros is not careful, pretty soon our people will grow some sense and abandon this place for a safer realm, like the Dothraki Sea. I joke, of course.
The Riverlands are our home and gods help us, we love it. Still, as they say, "the king eats and the Hand takes the shit." The same is true of the Riverlands – the Seven Kingdoms piss and the Riverlands change clothes.
==Appearances==
===Individuals===
*Balerion (not mentioned by name)
*King Aegon I Targaryen, "the Conqueror"
*Queen Rhaenys Targaryen (not mentioned by name)
*Queen Visenya Targaryen (not mentioned by name)
*Lord Edmyn Tully
*King Harren Hoare, "the Black" (mentioned)
*King Aerys II Targaryen, the "Mad King" (mentioned)
*Lord Hoster Tully
*Lady Minisa Tully (not mentioned by name)
*Ser Brynden Tully
*Lady Catelyn Stark (not mentioned by name)
*Lady Lysa Arryn (not mentioned by name)
*Lord Eddard Stark (mentioned)
*Prince Rhaegar Targaryen
*King Robert Baratheon
===Houses===
*House Tully
*House Mudd
*House Durrandon
*House Hoare
*House Botley
*House Blacktyde
*House Targaryen
*House Mallister
*House Blackwood
*House Bracken
*House Frey
*House Whent
*House Arryn
*House Baratheon
*House Stark
===Locations===
*The Riverlands
**Harrenhal
**Seagard (mentioned)
*The Westerlands (mentioned)
*The Reach (mentioned)
*The Vale of Arryn (mentioned)
*The North (mentioned)
**The Neck
*The Stormlands (mentioned)
*Dothraki Sea (mentioned)
===Events===
*Dawn Age
*Aegon's Conquest
**Burning of Harrenhal
*Robert's Rebellion
**Battle of the Trident
*War of the Five Kings
===Titles===
*Lord Paramount of the Trident
*Warden
*Hand of the King (not mentioned by name)
===Miscellaneous===
*Iron Throne (not mentioned by name)
==Cast==
*Clive Russell as Brynden Tully
==Behind the scenes==
*Brynden mentions the curse of Harrenhal, without specifying it. In the fourth novel, Jaime and Littlefinger point out that all the houses that possessed the castle were destroyed, and every individual who served as its catellan was killed, allegedly as a result of the curse. 
==References==
Category:Shorts narrated by Brynden Tully
 13
2.18M
Category:Shorts written by Dave Hill
fr:Le Conflans (Histoires & Traditions)
pt-br:As Terras Fluviais (História e Tradição)