Ren ville inte ta bort Joffrey initialt
Renly ville konsolidera sitt inflytande i domstolen genom att följa sig med Eddard Stark och ta roll i att kontrollera Joffrey som en marionett, ungefär som hur Aegon III styrdes av hans regeringsråd (Roligt faktum: Hans nåd, Aegon III avfyrade hela regenten rådet på samma dag som han blev 16 år).
Från AGOT ser vi Renlys förslag till Eddard Stark:
“My lord, I have thirty men in my personal guard, and other friends
beside, knights and lords. Give me an hour, and I can put a hundred
swords in your hand.”
“And what should I do with a hundred swords, my lord?”
“Strike! Now, while the castle sleeps.” Renly looked back at Ser Boros
again and dropped his voice to an urgent whisper. “We must get
Joffrey away from his mother and take him in hand. Protector or no,
the man who holds the king holds the kingdom. We should seize
Myrcella and Tommen as well. Once we have her children, Cersei will
not dare oppose us. The council will confirm you as Lord Protector and
make Joffrey your ward.”
Ned regarded him coldly. “Robert is not dead yet. The gods may spare
him. If not, I shall convene the council to hear his final words and
consider the matter of the succession, but I will not dishonor his
last hours on earth by shedding blood in his halls and dragging
frightened children from their beds.”
Lord Renly took a step back, taut as a bowstring. “Every moment you
delay gives Cersei another moment to prepare. By the time Robert
dies, it may be too late... for both of us.”
Som framgår av denna konversation såg Renly att Joffrey verkligen var den sanna kungen och Roberts arvinge. Han delar inte några tvivel om honom, hans enda bekymmer är vad Cersei skulle göra i samband med Roberts död. Han verkar vara verkligen oroad över sin position och eventuellt livet.
Så han ville inte ta bort Joffrey, han ville ta bort Cersei från möjliga Power position genom att ta tag i sina barn.
Renly är okunnighet om Joffreys föräldraskap
Stannis och Jon Arryn litade inte på Renly med sina undersökningar. Till skillnad från Varys och Petyr Baelish var Renly inte så smart när det kom till domstolsintrig, så det är osannolikt att han visste.
Men han var smartare än Eddard Stark och han visste att Cersei omedelbart skulle flytta för att fylla domstolen med sina anhängare och ta bort alla som kan utgöra ett hot mot hennes inflytande. Huvud bland dem skulle vara Roberts familj och vänner.
Han bekräftade att han inte visste när han erbjöd Eddard att ta tag i Joffrey. Han bekräftade det senare framför Catelyn när han sa att han inte skulle ha ringt hans banderoller om Eddard regent istället för Cersei.
Då han igen träffade Stannis visade han igen att han inte visste om incestet och han trodde inte Stannis:
Renly laughed. “You must forgive Lady Catelyn, Stannis. She’s come all
the way down from Riverrun, a long way ahorse. I fear she never saw
your little letter.”
“Joffrey is not my brother’s seed,” Stannis said bluntly. “Nor is
Tommen. They are bastards. The girl as well. All three of them
abominations born of incest.” Would even Cersei be so mad? Catelyn was
speechless.
“Isn’t that a sweet story, my lady?” Renly asked. “I was camped at
Horn Hill when Lord Tarly received his letter, and I must say, it took
my breath away.” He smiled at his brother. “I had never suspected you
were so clever, Stannis. Were it only true, you would indeed be
Robert’s heir.”
“Were it true? Do you name me a liar?”
“Can you prove any word of this fable?”
Men möte Stannis fick honom att ompröva hans syn på Joffrey trots att han inte erkände det framför Stannis:
“Do I?” Renly shrugged. “So be it. Stannis was never the most
cherished of brothers, I confess. Do you suppose this tale of his is
true? If Joffrey is the Kingslayer’s get-”
“-your brother is the lawful heir.”
“While he lives,” Renly admitted.
Så varför förkunna sig kung senare?
I ACOK berättade han för Catelyn att den enda anledningen till att han proklamerade sig kung var Lannister håller på Joffrey:
“On the night of Robert’s death, I offered your husband a hundred
swords and urged him to take Joffrey into his power. Had he listened,
he would be regent today, and there would have been no need for me to
claim the throne.”
“Ned refused you.” She did not have to be told.
“He had sworn to protect Robert’s children,” Renly said. “I lacked the
strength to act alone, so when Lord Eddard turned me away, I had no
choice but to flee. Had I stayed, I knew the queen would see to it
that I did not long outlive my brother.”
Renly hade inga illusioner om sin svägerska men av rädsla för sitt liv och sin egen ambition vägrade han att böja sig till Stannis eller Joffrey och förkunna sig kung efter att ha smidat en allians med High Garden.
Från ACOK:
“It would seem that you are the one who has forgotten Stannis,”
Catelyn said, more sharply than she’d intended.
“His claim, you mean?” Renly laughed. “Let us be blunt, my lady.
Stannis would make an appalling king. Nor is he like to become one.
Men respect Stannis, even fear him, but precious few have ever loved
him.”
“He is still your elder brother. If either of you can be said to have
a right to the Iron Throne, it must be Lord Stannis.”
Renly shrugged. “Tell me, what right did my brother Robert ever have
to the Iron Throne?” He did not wait for an answer. “Oh, there was
talk of the blood ties between Baratheon and Targaryen, of weddings a
hundred years past, of second sons and elder daughters. No one but the
maesters care about any of it. Robert won the throne with his
warhammer.” He swept a hand across the campfires that burned from
horizon to horizon. “Well, there is my claim, as good as Robert’s ever
was.”
Helt trodde att nu när han hade makten hade han inget behov av att böja sig mot Joffrey eller Stannis. Han kunde vara en kung i sin egen rättighet. Det var grunden till hans eventuella påstående trots att han låtsas att det var Lannisters som tvingade honom att göra det.
Renly sin höga uppfattning om sig själv
Ren var alltid den mest allvarliga av Stags. Enligt deras Maester Cressen:
Even as a boy, Renly had loved bright colors and rich fabrics, and he
had loved his games as well. “Look at me!” he would shout as he ran
laughing through the halls of Storm’s End. “Look at me, I’m a dragon,”
or “Look at me, I’m a wizard,” or “Look at me, look at me, I’m the
rain god.”
The bold little boy with wild black hair and laughing eyes was a man
grown now, one-and- twenty, and still he played his games. Look at me,
I’m a king, Cressen thought sadly.
Han trodde att han hade det som krävdes för att vara en bättre kung än både Stannis och Robert och han var fast besluten att bevisa det:
“Though it’s a fool’s law, wouldn’t you agree? Why the oldest son, and
not the best-fitted? The crown will suit me, as it never suited Robert
and would not suit Stannis. I have it in me to be a great king, strong
yet generous, clever, just, diligent, loyal to my friends and terrible
to my enemies, yet capable of forgiveness, patient-”
“-humble?” Catelyn supplied.
Renly laughed. “You must allow a king some flaws, my lady.”
Varför väntade Ned Renly för att hjälpa honom?
Ned var inte i första hand säker på vad man skulle göra av den yngste Baratheonbrödern. Han visste med säkerhet att Jon Arryn och Stannis inte litade på Renly med vad de undersökte i bordelar av King's Landing.
Från AGOT:
Jory went to the wardrobe. “Lord Renly is brother to Lord Stannis as
well as the king.”
“Yet it seems that he was not invited on these rides.” Ned was not
sure what to make of Renly, with all his friendly ways and easy
smiles.
Men Renly var en av de två vittnen som Robert valde under undertecknandet av dekretet för utnämning av Eddard Stark som Lord Regent and Protector:
King Robert did not seem to miss her. He bid his brother Renly and
Grand Maester Pycelle to stand in witness as he pressed his seal
into the hot yellow wax that Ned had dripped upon his letter. “Now
give me something for the pain and let me die.”
Eddard trodde aldrig att Renly skulle fly i nödens stund, då Baratheon-dynastins öde skulle vara på spel. Han räknade också med att han uppfyllde sin skyldighet som vittne till sin brors senaste dekret.
“When Lord Renly arrives,” Ned said.
Varys gave him a sorrowful look. “I fear Lord Renly has left the
city.”
“Left the city?” Ned had counted on Renly’s support.
“He took his leave through a postern gate an hour before dawn,
accompanied by Ser Loras Tyrell and some fifty retainers,” Varys told
them. “When last seen, they were galloping south in some haste, no
doubt bound for Storm’s End or Highgarden.”
So much for Renly and his hundred swords. Ned did not like the smell
of that, but there was nothing to be done for it.
Efteråt, när Eddard greps, tyckte han Renly dela skulden:
He damned them all: Littlefinger, Janos Slynt and his gold cloaks, the
queen, the Kingslayer, Pycelle and Varys and Ser Barristan, even
Lord Renly, Robert’s own blood, who had run when he was needed most.
Så varför Eddard räknade Renly var att han var Roberts egen bror och skulle förväntas stå för att skydda sin dynastins tron, även om personen att klättra skulle vara hans äldre bror.
Men vände Renly Landing innan han lärde sig sanningen och han tänkte aldrig att böja sig för Stannis, trots felbedömningen på Eddards vägnar.