Robert Baratheon

*this is a continuation of my Month of Thrones series. Note that there are no spoilers past season three for my non-book readers*

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"I swear to you, I was never so alive as when I was winning this throne, or so dead as now that I've won it."

Robert Baratheon can best be described (when he was alive), as a man whose best years in life were behind him. A true warrior, he was more known for his brawn than his brains. When we first seen him in the story and the show, he has been king for around 14 years, and had driven the realm in to debt (mainly to the Lannisters) by his whims and egregious mismanagement. When he was younger, he was the envy of all around as he had the looks, charm and skill, but it later wasted away due to his gluttony.

He was the first born of his family and spent most of his younger years in Storm's End until the day his parents died in a shipwreck barely off the coast of Storm's End. This left Robert and his brothers Stannis and Renly, orphaned. Robert was then sent to be fostered in the Vale under Robert Arryn, where Ned Stark was also being fostered. The two became very close friends and stayed that way until after the events of the Sack of King's Landing. Sometime after, Robert fell in love (or his version of love) with Ned's sister Lyanna (who has personality and looks of Arya) and sought to marry her. Even at this time, Robert's promiscuity was well known to many people, including Lyanna (which Ned noted that she was not looking forward to the marriage). Robert may have been more in love with the idea of Lyanna, as he was so stricken by her beauty, but failed to notice her wild and free spirit. Despite this, he was infuriated to learn that she had be kidnapped by Rhaegar Targaryen (the Crown Prince) and this snowballed into the war known as Robert's Rebellion (an event that defines much of the series).

He was a very good commander and warrior during the Rebellion, only losing one battle (due to the prowess of Randyll Tarly-father of Samwell) to the loyalists. He sealed the end of the war and the Targaryen dynasty by slaying Rhaegar in man-to-man combat at the Battle of the Trident. His rift with Ned began when Tywin presented Robert the dead bodies of the remaining Targaryens (Elia, Rhaenys and Aegon) and he approved of their deaths while Ned was horrified and stormed of in anger at Robert's skewed ideas of justice. Only after Ned found Lyanna and she died in his arms, did him and Robert reconcile. After this, Robert was always haunted of her memory and his hatred for Rhaegar.

At the beginning of his rule as king, he had Stannis take Dragonstone to capture that stronghold and to take the last remaining Targaryens (Viserys and Daenerys) but they still managed to escape. He then awarded Dragonstone to Stannis and Storm's End to Renly, which Stannis never forgave him for. An alliance was made with the Lannisters and he married Cersei and had 3 children with her. During their long marriage, Robert had many affairs and trysts that resulted in him having 16 bastard children. Despite the realm having overwhelming amounts of gold at the end of Aerys' reign, Robert contributed to the debt of over 6 million golden dragons and the dependence on the Lannisters and Tyrells for funds.

After his Hand, Jon Arryn dies, Robert goes to Ned to make him the new Hand of the King and to betroth his son Joffrey to Sansa. Over the years he became incredibly unhappy with the life he had been living and he dreamed of running away to go back to his previous life. When Robert learns of Dany's preganacy and demands her death, Ned quits in protest, only coming back when he is coerced. Due to the actions of Queen Cersei and her lover/cousin Lancel Lannister, Robert ends up badly wounded from hunt a boar and later dies from his injuries.

I think that Robert was a good and strong man that had only the best intentions when he took over as king. He then discovered that he was trapped in this loveless life (he never forgot about Lyanna) and only dealt with flatterers and those who needed something from him. Robert was a very important character to the opening of the story and his death, like Ned's serves to set up later conflicts in the War of the Five Kings and with the Lannister taking control of the kingdom.