Skirmish at the Tower of Joy

A skirmish took place at the Tower of Joy in the final days of Robert's Rebellion, a civil war that divided the Seven Kingdoms and led to the fall of the Targaryen dynasty and the rise of Baratheon rule.
==History==
===Prelude===
Following the Sack of King's Landing and the death of the Mad King, some loyalist forces still remained on the field, unaware of the fall of the capital and that Robert Baratheon had taken the Iron Throne. Despite their falling out over the murder of the royal family at the hands of House Lannister, Eddard Stark went south to put an end to the Siege of Storm's End."The Sack of King's Landing - House Stark"
After Lord Mace Tyrell bent the knee and his siege of Storm's End had ended,"Robert's Rebellion - Margaery Tyrell" a small group loyal to the Mad King still remained: the Kingsguard who had not been either at the Battle of the Trident or at the fall of the capital. When the rebellion had grown into a massive force that threatened the Iron Throne, Ser Gerold Hightower, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, was dispatched by King Aerys to have Prince Rhaegar Targaryen return to the capital. Rhaegar returned and would die in the Battle of the Trident, while Ser Gerold remained at the Red Mountains for unexplained reasons.Gerold Hightower's entry in the Book of Brothers - "Two Swords"
===Events===
At the Red Mountains of Dorne, Ned Stark and a small group of bannermen fought Ser Gerold along with his last remaining sworn brother, Ser Arthur Dayne. Hightower was bested and killed by Ned early on in the fight. With the Sword of the Morning slicing down the rest of the Northmen, what began as a ferocious melee rapidly boiled down to a tense duel between Dayne and Ned, in which Dayne eventually gained the upper hand and disarmed Ned; luckily for Ned, Dayne was stabbed in the back by Howland Reed, and finished off by Ned. Ultimately, only Howland and Ned survived the fight."Dark Wings, Dark Words""Oathbreaker"
===Aftermath===
Having dealt with the last Targaryen loyalists, Ned Stark returned home to Winterfell, along with the body of his sister, Lyanna Stark, who had recently perished, and his bastard son, Jon Snow, whom he had allegedly fathered with a woman named Wylla. While his friendship with Robert was mended over their mutual love for Lyanna, who had been Robert's betrothed, both men would remain haunted by her death.
However, as Bran discovered through one of his visions, things didn't happen quite as Ned told everyone. After killing Dayne, he entered the Tower and found Lyanna, lying in a bed and bleeding massively from a cut in her abdomen. Ned calls the present maids for help, but Lyanna stops him and whispers in his ear. She makes him keep one last promise to her: keep her newborn son safe and protect him from the wrath of Robert, who had developed a hatred for everyone carrying Targaryen blood, which would soon include her child, Rhaegar's son. Lyanna whispers that her son's name is Aegon Targaryen before passing away, leaving Ned to return to Winterfell with her body and son, presenting him as his own bastard, Jon Snow."The Winds of Winter"
==In the books==
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Ned Stark is accompanied by six men to the Tower of Joy, in the Red Mountains, to recover his sister. The six men were:
* Howland Reed
* Willam Dustin, husband of Lady Barbrey Dustin and the head of House Dustin
* Ethan Glover, former squire to the late Brandon Stark
* Martyn Cassel, father of Jory Cassel and brother of Rodrik Cassel
* Theo Wull, of Clan Wull
* Ser Mark Ryswell
While they were only two Kingsguard in the show, there were three in the novels. The three Kingsguard guarding the tower were:
* Ser Gerold Hightower
* Ser Arthur Dayne
* Ser Oswell Whent
As Ned lies injured, following the bloody brawl with Jaime, he has a feverish dream/flashback about what took place at the Tower. He sees the three Kingsguard in their white cloaks and Lyanna "in a bed of blood." As he and his men come upon the Kingsguard, a dialogue ensues:
As the two parties engage in battle, Ned hears his sister crying out his name, and the dream concludes with him making a promise before she dies. So far in the novels, what exactly this promise entailed is unclear.
It is never revealed exactly how the battle unfolded, such as who killed whom or in what manner. All that is known is that Eddard Stark and Howland Reed were the only survivors. Eddard later told Bran that Howland Reed saved his life.
==References==
===Notes===
==External links==
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Category:281 AC
Category:Battles
Category:Robert's Rebellion
de:Kampf am Turm der Freude
fr:Confrontation à la Tour de la Joie
ru:Столкновение в Красных горах