This is a listing of members of House Blackwood who appear in A Song of Ice and Fire.
For the main character index, see here
For the main Riverlands entry, see here
House Blackwood of Raventree Hall
A Riverlands noble house seated at Raventree Hall in Blackwood Valley. They are one of the few southern houses that still follow the Old Gods instead of the Way of the Seven. According to histories the family originates from The North, having once ruled the Wolfswood as petty kings before being exiled by the Starks. House Blackwood has a long rivalry with House Bracken dating back to the Age of Heroes, when both houses ruled separate kingdoms. Their sigil is a flock of ravens on scarlet surrounding a dead weirwood upon a black escutcheon. Their house words are unknown.
The sigil of the house comes from the massive dead weirwood in Raventree Hall's godswood, where hundreds of ravens have gathered every night at dusk for thousands of years to perch on the tree. According the Blackwoods, the weirwood was poisoned by the Brackens a thousand years ago.
Tropes related to House Blackwood:
- Alliterative Name: Tytos' children Brynden and Bethany, along with Ben (though his real name is Edmund).
- Animal Motifs: Ravens, for wisdom, sorcery, and association with the old gods and ways of the North. It was the Children of the Forest who taught the First Men to use ravens to communicate over long distances.
- Badass Family: Nearly every single named Blackwood man and woman seems to be a badass and/or a Determinator of some description - from the current Lord Tytos who is a Four-Star Badass, to Lady Agnes who told an ironborn conqueror that she would rather have his sword than his cock, and to "Bloody" Ben and Black Aly who played a major role in the final and decisive victory of the Blacks in the Dance of the Dragons. Aegon the Unworthy's bastard son Brynden Rivers (a.k.a. "Bloodraven") also counts by proxy, as he certainly took more after his Silk Hiding Steel mother's side than after his disorganized jerk of a father.
- Enemy Mine: Anytime the Blackwoods and Brackens ally. One of the most famous instances was the Battle of Bitter River, where the two Houses attempted to halt the Andal invasion, only to have their lines broken by a charge of 777 Andal knights led by seven septons. In short; when Blackwoods and Brackens voluntarily work together, the entire Riverlands treat it as a Mass "Oh, Crap!" moment.
- The Exile: According to their family traditions (and some runic records found by Maester Barneby), the Blackwoods once ruled the Wolfswood in the North as kings before being defeated and driven from the North by House Stark.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The head-butting ancestral conflict between the Brackens and Blackwoods in the Red Fork of the Riverlands is reminiscent of the family feud between the Hatfields and McCoys in the Tug Fork on the Big Sandy River in Kentucky, United States (which dates back to before the American Civil War).
- Feuding Families: With the Brackens. While the feud had been ongoing for thousands of years, the two families had managed to make peace for a few centuries until Ser Otho Bracken killed Lord Quentyn Blackwood at a tourney a ninety-three years before the series began.Hoster Blackwood: We've had a hundred peaces with the Brackens, many sealed with marriages. There's Blackwood blood in every Bracken, and Bracken blood in every Blackwood. The Old King's Peace lasted half a century. But then some fresh quarrel broke out, and the old wounds opened and began to bleed again. That's how it always happens, my father says. So long as men remember the wrongs done to their forebears, no peace will ever last. So we go on century after century, with us hating the Brackens and them hating us. My father says there will never be an end to it.
- Good Old Ways: They are one of the few houses south of the Neck who still worship the Old Gods.
- It's Personal: The Red Wedding leaves them particularly enraged among the Riverlands houses because Lucas Blackwood, one of the casualties, was related to the Freys via Walder Frey's fourth wife, making it a double-whammy kinslaying and violation of guest right.
- Land, Sea, Sky: In terms of Animal Motifs, House Tully (fish) are the Sea, while their bannermen House Bracken (horse) are the Land and House Blackwood (raven) are the Sky.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: Tytos has seven children at the start of the series: Brynden, Lucas, Hoster, Edmund, Alyn, Bethany, and Robert.
- Multiple-Choice Past: The Brackens claim the Blackwoods were their treacherous vassals. The Blackwoods tell it the other way around.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Both Houses are as stubborn as the blazes, will dig into the opposite position just because they learned what the other House was doing... and, currently, despise Freys. A relatively safe topic of conversation for now would be, "So, about undermining Lord Walder...? Let's discuss purely hypothetical ways and means."
- Passed-Over Promotion: Shiera Blackwood, the daughter of Lord Roderick Blackwood, was almost made queen of the Riverlands by King Arlan III Durrandon after the Teague dynasty was overthrown. However, the riverlords protested being ruled by a woman and King Arlan decided to absorb the Riverlands into his realm instead.
- Ravens and Crows: Like most Houses, they are often closely linked with the tropes associated their sigil. Even the odd bastard will (in)famously use them (or get labelled — take your pick). Incidentally, they may not always be upfront and flashy, but this family will often play key, if usually fairly quiet, roles in politics: for good or ill. Much like the Seven Kingdoms wouldn't function long without the raven postal network, the Riverlands and the Kingdom at large wouldn't function without the Blackwoods. (Nor would the place know what to do without the dynamo that is the Blackwood-Bracken, near-constant feud, for that matter.)
- Small Role, Big Impact: They are a supporting house in the background of most of the story, but they play a big part in the backstory and Tales of Dunk and Egg. As a result of there being no marriages between Starks and Targaryens (or not recorded unions at least), and the mysterious bastard Brynden Rivers, they are the only real link between the Valyrian and First Men magic that have so far been separate.
- Theme Naming: Members of House Blackwood tend to have names that start with 'A', 'B', 'M', and 'Ro'; Agnes, Alysanne, Alyn, Benjicot, Bethany, Brynden, Melissa, Melantha, Roderick, Roger, Robert.
- You Are What You Hate: Despite hating the Brackens, the Blackwoods have Bracken blood in them (and the Brackens have Blackwood blood in them, too) as a result of marriages between the two Houses made hundreds of years ago.
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Current Generation
Lord Tytos Blackwood
Lord Tytos Blackwood
Head of House Blackwood and Lord of Raventree.
- Badass Cape: Often wears a raven-feather cloak.
- Bling of War: He has two awesome sets of armor. The first is seen in A Game of Thrones, and is described as being bright yellow with jet inlaid in elaborate vine-and-leaf patterns. He wears the second set in A Dance With Dragons, and it is burnished scarlet armor with a silver inlay of the dead weirwood tree of Raventree Hall surrounded by onyx ravens taking flight.
- Cycle of Revenge: How he views the conflict with the Brackens, telling his sons that it will never end so long as one person in one of the families remembers one slight upon a past ancestor.
- Foil: To his rival, Lord Jonos Bracken. Tytos is tall and thin, calm, dignified, and reserved, has several sons and one daughter, and is the last Riverlord to surrender to the Iron Throne, while Jonos is shorter and has a heavy build, prone to angry outbursts and crass, has several daughters and one son, and is the first Riverlord to surrender to the Iron Throne whereas Tytos remains in defiance, and when he first meets Jaime is having sex with a camp follower. Pretty much they only thing they have in common is their hatred of each other and skill in battle.
- Frontline General: Personally fights alongside his men, notably when he leads a charge from Riverrun that helps break the Lannisters' siege of the castle during the early stage of the War of the Five Kings.
- Honor Before Reason: Refuses to submit to the Iron Throne after the Red Wedding, becoming the last lord to proclaim loyalty to Robb's cause in the Riverlands. He still refuses to surrender after a half-a-year siege to Raventree, because Lord Jonos Bracken is the one commanding it. When Ser Jaime Lannister arrives to take over the siege, Tytos immediately surrenders, knowing he will get better terms and will not have to surrender to Jonos.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While he does genuinely love his children and is the last lord standing to support Robb, but he has an almost callous disregard for pretty much all of his family apart from Bethany, to the point where he's practically jumping for joy when he hears that his own son will be taken away as a hostage. He also considers Jonos Bracken less of a man because he's had so many daughters, which is regressive and idiotic even by the standards of the time, and no other character sees to judge anyone by the gender of their kids; Oberyn Martell had eight daughters and zero sons, yet he's regarded as the most dangerous man in Dorne. Despite all this, he's ultimately a loyal and brave man who loves his family.
- Kneel Before Frodo: Proclaims Robb as "King in the North", despite being a Riverlands lord whose territory has never been ruled from Winterfell before.
- Outliving One's Offspring: His second son Lucas was murdered at the Red Wedding and his younger son Robert died of illness while Raventree Hall was besieged.
- Parental Favoritism: While Tytos clearly loves Hoster, he is still far more willing to send him to King's Landing as a hostage than any of his other children because of his preference for books over warfare.
- The Rival: To Lord Jonos Bracken.
- Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With Lord Jonos. At strategy meetings, they sit as far away from each other as possible. Their enmity is so well-known that Edmure Tully uses them being in agreement about his battle plans to convince Catelyn that he knows what he is doing.Edmure: When did Blackwood and Bracken agree about anything that was not certain, I ask you?
- Undying Loyalty: To Houses Tully and Stark. He refuses to surrender after the Red Wedding, and Raventree becomes the last Stark stronghold in the Riverlands until he was reluctantly forced to surrender to Ser Jaime Lannister.
- Worthy Opponent: Ser Jaime holds Tytos in high regard for his loyalty to the Starks and skill in battle, even thinking he has been more honorable then Jonos Bracken.
Lucas Blackwood
Lucas Blackwood
Second son of Tytos Blackwood.
- Due to the Dead: His father wants to bury him under the great weirwood tree at Raventree Hall. Jaime Lannister promises Tytos he will force the Freys to return Lucas's body to allow this.
- The Generic Guy: He gets few lines and little characterization.
- Red Shirt: His entire purpose is to fill out the casualties at the Red Wedding and give the Blackwoods extra reason to despise the Freys, especially as one of Walder Frey's previous wives was a Blackwood.Tytos Blackwood: Lucas was murdered at the Red Wedding. Walder Frey's fourth wife was a Blackwood, but kinship means as little as guest right at the Twins.
Hoster Blackwood
Hoster Blackwood
Third son of Tytos Blackwood. After Raventree surrenders to the Iron Throne, Hoster is taken as a hostage and squire by Jaime Lannister to ensure their loyalty.
- Affectionate Nickname: Called Hos by his family and friends.
- Bookworm: Loves reading more than warfare. Jaime thinks that were they to meet, Tyrion and Hoster would get on quite well, based on their love of history and books.
- Mr. Exposition: After becoming a hostage of the Iron Throne in A Dance with Dragons, Jaime relies on Hoster to learn more about the history of the Riverlands as he travels them.
- Non-Action Guy: He's seven feet tall, but quite thin and uninterested in fighting. It is heavily implied his father finds this a disappointment.
- The Unfavorite: It is implied he's this to his father Tytos.
- You Remind Me of X: He's bookish and scholarly, and has a love of history. Jaime thinks he and Tyrion would get along well.Jaime's thoughts: Tyrion would like this one. They could talk from dusk to dawn, arguing about books.
Bethany Blackwood
Bethany Blackwood
The only daughter of Lord Tytos.
- Alliterative Name: Bethany Blackwood.
- Daddy's Girl: Bethany appears to be the apple of her father's eye.
Historical Blackwoods
Pre-Conquest
Lord Roderick Blackwood
Lord Roderick Blackwood
Lord of Raventree Hall under King Humfrey Teague, Roderick rose in revolt when the king attempted to repress the worship of the Old God within his domain. He was killed during the final battles of his rebellion.
- Gondor Calls for Aid: When it looked like his rebellion was going to crushed, Roderick sent a letter to his son-in-law King Arlan III Durrandon asking for aid. Arlan responded quickly raising a host and smashing the siege of Raventree to rescue Roderick.
- Rebel Leader: He was the leader of the houses that revolted against King Humfrey, which included House Tully and House Vance of Atranta.
Lady Agnes Blackwood
Lady Agnes Blackwood
Lady of Raventree when King Harwyn Hoare invaded the Riverlands. She raised a host to combat him, but was betrayed by Lord Lothar Bracken. It is hinted she may have been a greenseer.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: After her response to Harwyn (see Worthy Opponent below) she got her wish.
- Defiant to the End: Refused to be cowed by Harwyn after being captured. According to legend, she said the following to him after he killed two of her sons:Lady Agnes: Raventree shall endure long after you and yours are cast down and destroyed. Your line shall end in blood and fire.
- Maester Yandel dismisses her statement as a invention of a bard or storyteller who added it to the story following the extinction of House Hoare at the hands of Aegon the Conqueror's dragons. Of course, since the Blackwood bloodline has been linked to magic powers via Bloodraven, it might be she saw Aegon's coming in a Greendream.
- Forced to Watch: Harwyn made her watch as he personally strangled two of her sons to death in front of her. Agnes refused to shed any tears and merely told him she had other sons who would carry on her line.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Her defiance in the face of watching her sons die echoes a legend about Caterina Sforza; when the forces besieging her castle threatened to kill her children, she responded that she had the ability to make more sons, and showed them her genitals. Her name also recalls "Black Agnes" Randolph, the Countess of Dunbar, who also reacted with bravado when the English earl besieging her tried to force her surrender by threatening her brother's life.
- Worthy Opponent: Harwyn was impressed by her and offered to spare her life if she would become one of his salt wives. He killed her after her response:Lady Agnes: I would sooner have your sword inside me than your cock.
Post-Conquest
Lord Samwell Blackwood
Lord Samwell Blackwood
Head of the House during the early Dance of Dragons. In his youth he fought a duel against Ser Amos Bracken to win the favor of Rhaenyra Targaryen. He would duel his rival once more during the Battle of the Burning Mill, where he was struck down by Amos, although he was avenged by his sister Alysanne. Father of Benjicot Blackwood and Robb Rivers.
- Always Second Best: He lost both duels against Amos Bracken, and didn't survive the second one.
- Brother–Sister Team: His sister Alysanne accompanied him in his campaign at least, and avenged his death.
- Duel to the Death: Fought and lost one against Amos Bracken.
- Like Father, Unlike Son: He was far more hot-headed and impulsive than his shy, even tempered son Benjicot.
- The Rival: Of Amos Bracken.
Lord Benjicot Blackwood
Lord Benjicot Blackwood
Bloody Ben Blackwood
Head of House Blackwood during the Dance of the Dragons. He sided with the Blacks, supporting Rhaenyra Targaryen's claim to the Iron Throne.
- A Child Shall Lead Them: He was only eleven during the start of the war, but he ably led House Blackwood's forces and aided the Riverlands army in winning several major victories.
- Alliterative Name: Bloody Ben Blackwood
- Beware the Nice Ones: While he might have wept for his fallen foes, that didn't meant he wouldn't lead his army in destroying you, just as Borros Baratheon found out.
- Bleed 'Em and Weep: After witnessing the Battle by the Lakeshore, Ben wept upon seeing all the dead despite his side winning.
- Child Soldier: He fought during the war despite his youth, which caused some of his opponents to underestimate him.
- Due to the Dead: Carries Addam of Hull's body back to Raventree Hall so he can receive a proper burial from his brother.
- In-Series Nickname: "Ben" Blackwood. Later amended to Bloody Ben Blackwood after the Battle of the Kingsroad, where he broke the flank of Lord Borros Baratheon's army.
- Like Father, Unlike Son: While we don't know much about his father, Samwell, we know he A) fought a Bracken over Princess Rhaenyra, B) fathered a bastard, Red Robb Rivers, and C) died before his heir reached age twelve. This implies he was fairly hot-blooded and impulsive, as opposed to Benjicot who comes across as more competent and compassionate than most lords aged just eleven.
- Mercy Kill: Has his archer Billy Burley put Tessarion out of her misery after she is horrifically injured at the second Battle of Tumbleton.
- My Nayme Is: Benjicot instead of Benjamin
- Nice Guy: He's compassionate enough to Mercy Kill Tessarion and seems horrified at how many soldiers he killed.
- You Are in Command Now: Not once but twice, first when his father was killed early in the Dance and later he led the royal forces when Robert Rowan was killed during the Vale Succession Crisis.
Lady Alysanne Blackwood
Lady Alysanne Stark (née Blackwood)
Black Aly
Aunt of Benjicot. She commanded the archers of the Riverlands army during the Dance of the Dragons. After the war she married Lord Cregan Stark and bore him four daughters: Sarra, Alys, Raya, and Mariah.
- Action Girl: She was a warrior who fought alongside her archers. During the Battle of the Kingsroad, she and her men cut down most of the royalist knights.
- Arranged Marriage: To Cregan Stark. The pact was made as part of a deal that Alysanne worked on with Baela and Rhaena Targaryen to get Cregan to spare the life Lord Corlys Velaryon for his part in poisoning King Aegon II.
- That said, the "arranged" part was almost a formality — it's clear that she and Cregan were highly attracted to each other, so it was almost a case of "if you don't spare the Sea Snake, I won't marry you".
- Master Archer: She commanded the Blackwood archers during the Battle of the Kingsroad, and it is mentioned she shot Amos Bracken in the face after he killed her brother Samwell.
- Mistaken for Gay: Before she met and fell for Lord Cregan Stark, it was widely assumed that she was in a relationship with Lady Sabitha Frey.
- Tomboy: "Huntress, horse-breaker, and archer without peer, Black Aly had little of a woman's softness about her." She's described as tall, lean, strong, and fearless, and Lord Cregan is attracted to her because: "She smells of woodsmoke, not of flowers."
- You Killed My Father: Avenges her brother Samwell almost immediately by loosing an arrow into Amos Bracken's face.
Robb Rivers
Robb Rivers
The Bowman of Raventree, Red Robb Rivers
- "Though a dozen birds took wing, not one ever reached the prince; Red Robb Rivers, said to be the finest archer in all Westeros, took them down on the wing."—Archmaester Gyldayn, in The Princess and The Queen, or, The Blacks and The Greens
A bastard of House Blackwood during the Dance of the Dragons.
- Alliterative Name: Robb Rivers.
- Colonel Badass: Commanded three hundred archers in the Blacks army.
- Hero Killer: He was one of three archers who killed Criston Cole at the Butcher's Ball.
- Hold the Line: His archers covered the retreat of Ser Garibald Grey's men from the Second Battle of Tumbleton.
- In-Series Nickname: Red Robb Rivers and The Bowman of Raventree.
- Master Archer: Not only he commanded a large force of archers, he was skilled enough to shoot down a dozen ravens on the wing. Fire & Blood outright calls him the finest archer in Westeros.
- Sibling Team: Fought alongside his half-brother Benjicot.
- Uncertain Doom: It's not clear whether Robb survived the Second Battle of Tumbleton.
Lady Melissa Blackwood
Lady Melissa Blackwood
Missy
One of King Aegon the Unworthy's many mistresses, she spent five years at the royal court, mothering three bastards: Mya, Gwenys, and Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers.
- Beauty Equals Goodness: She was very pretty, and had a kind heart and generous personality.
- Girl Next Door: As per Hoster Blackwood, Melissa was slender and elegant, compared to Barba Bracken who was more buxom. Barba even mocked her for her flat chest.
- Famous Ancestor: Her bastard son became Hand of the King. A statue of her is placed in the godswood at Raventree Hall.
- Loved by All: Everyone loved Melissa because of her kindness and generosity. She was the only one of Aegon IV's mistresses who he came close to genuinely loving. Even Queen Naerys, Prince Daeron, and Aemon the Dragonknight became friends with her. The current Blackwoods have a statue of her at Raventree Hall.
- The Mistress: The sixth mistress of King Aegon the Unworthy. Apparently she was "the best loved" of his mistresses.
- Nice Girl: She was said to have a kind heart and generous nature, becoming the most beloved of Aegon's mistresses. Even Queen Naerys befriended her, as did Aemon the Dragonknight and Prince Daeron.
- Replacement Goldfish: How Barba Bracken saw her, the fact that she's a Blackwood doesn't help. The height of it is when King Aegon, in his infinite wisdom, renamed the Teats, formerly called Barba's Teats, to Missy's Teats after Barba Bracken mocked his new mistress' flat chest.
- The Rival: Of Barba Bracken.
- Silk Hiding Steel: Beneath her lovely exterior was a women who could not only put up with Aegon's nonsense, but actually thrive in the Red Keep. And be liked by most people. She could also cut her losses when the time came to leave. Also raised a spy master. Think about that for a second.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: One of the reasons Bittersteel rebelled against the crown was because Missy had replaced his mother Barba as Aegon's mistress, and Daeron had a good relationship with Missy's son with Aegon, Bloodraven (his sworn rival).
Mya and Gwenys Rivers
The two eldest bastard daughters of Aegon IV and Melissa Blackwood. They were the older sisters of Bloodraven, not usually included within the Great Bastards.
- All There in the Manual: They are only mentioned in The World of Ice & Fire.
- Bit Character: They are mentioned to prove the point that there were more than four Great Bastards, as Aegon IV did legitimize them all. Other than that, they have no character development.
- Child of Two Worlds: They have First Men and Valyrian ancestry.
- Coattail-Riding Relative: Subverted. It's not known whether they reaped the spoils of being legitimized, though being Bloodraven's sisters should have given them some rise in status.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: They are only mentioned by name, but there's no information as to their whereabouts even when they were alive.
Queen Betha Blackwood
Queen Betha Targaryen (nè Blackwood)
Black Betha
Daughter of the Lord of Raventree Hall, Betha married Aegon when she was nineteen and he was twenty. They had five children together (Duncan, Jaehaerys II, Shaera, Daeron and Rhaelle). She proved an able Queen, helping her husband rule the realm and make marriage arrangements for their children.
- All There in the Manual: Only mentioned in The World of Ice & Fire (so far, at least).
- Curtains Match the Window: She was well-known for her matching dark eyes and hair.
- In-Series Nickname: Was known as Black Betha for her dark eyes and raven hair.
- Marry for Love: When they wed, Aegon was so far down the line of succession that nobody cared if his match wasn't the most politically beneficial.
- Massive Numbered Siblings: Her children with Aegon: Duncan, Jaehaerys, Shaera, Daeron and Rhaelle.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: She stops being mentioned after the section on Aegon V's reign, but her eventual fate is left unclear. If she didn't die before Summerhall, it's a safe bet she didn't survive that one.
Others
Brynden Rivers
