This is a listing of members of House Florent in A Song of Ice and Fire.
For the main character index, see here
For the main Reach entry, see here
House Florent of Brightwater Keep
House Florent is an ancient house in the Reach with heavy blood ties to House Gardener, the Kings of the Reach. The Florents have long believed that they should rule Highgarden as Wardens of the South, not House Tyrell, who only descend from the Gardeners through the female line. Their seat is Brightwater Keep, situated on the Honeywine River. While initially siding with Renly Baratheon in the War of Five Kings, they switched allegiance over to Stannis Baratheon, whose wife Selyse was born a Florent. They have since been stripped from their lands and titles by Tywin Lannister.
Their sigil is a red-gold fox's head encircled by lapis lazuli flowers. Their house words are currently unknown.
Tropes related to House Florent:
- Beauty Equals Goodness: Defied or inverted a lot of the time. Not only are they unpleasant people as a whole, they are generally fairly unpleasant-looking, too (all sneers and ears). Subverted by the half-Florents Shireen Baratheon (she is innocence incarnate) and Edric Storm (an energetic little charmer). Even though they still have those ears, neither wear sneers.
- Cunning Like a Fox: Oh so Averted: they may have a fox as their sigil, but their arrogance and stupidity screw over nearly every single "cunning" plan they make.
- Defiant to the End: One unnamed Florent bastard is captured by Joffrey's forces at the Blackwater, and instead of swearing fealty he declares Stannis the rightful king and Joffrey a bastard in both meanings of the word before Joffrey has Ser Ilyn Payne behead him.
- The Exile: Due to supporting Stannis, House Florent has been attainted, with House Tyrell being given Brightwater Keep to start a new cadet house with Garlan Tyrell as head. Alekyne Florent, the heir to House Florent, is currently seeking refuge in Oldtown.
- Famous Ancestor: Ser Jon and Aladore Florent were present at the Ashford's Tourney.
- Heroic Lineage: They are said to be descended from Florys the Fox, a daughter of Garth Greenhand who had three husbands who did not known of each other and fathered the founders of Houses Florent, Ball, and Peake.
- Impoverished Patrician: After their lands and patrimony are seized by the Tyrells for siding with Stannis. Other than that, they would just return to being ugly with a mapped bloodline.
- The Load: To Stannis. Other than being reluctant supporters by his marriage to Selyse Florent, to Stannis they are just numbers in his ranks.
- Non-Promotion: They are technically Stannis' royal family but this has brought them very little perks; on paper they are supposedly on the same level as the Tyrells at the moment but no one is losing any sleep on their account, as they are still broke and homeless.
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Whenever Stannis refers to his annoyance towards the nobility in Westeros, a great degree is due to his interactions with his Florent in-laws.
- Posthumous Character: Ser Ryam, the father of Imry, Selyse, and Erren. He died of injuries sustained from falling off a horse at some point before the series began.
- The Resenter: Florents consider themselves to have a better claim to Highgarden than the Tyrells as they descend from House Gardener through the male line and not the female line like the Tyrells.
- Smug Snake: Another running theme among many, if not all, the Florents is that they are oh so very arrogant.
- The Squire: Merrell Florent is currently serving as a squire at the Arbor for House Redwyne.
- The Starscream: To House Tyrell, having only reluctantly followed them in supporting Renly and jumping ship to Stannis the first chance they got.
- Two First Names: "Florent" is the masculine equivalent of Florence and is common in France.
- Upper Class Twits: The very definition. Not only they are unsociable, they are smug, stupid and pretty ugly.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: The whereabouts of Ser Colin Florent, castellan of Brightwater Keep and father of Delena Florent, who in turn is mother of Edric Storm, and her brothers Omer and Merrell, remain unrevealed. It is unknown if he fled with Lord Alekyne, remained to hold Brightwater against Garlan Tyrell, or went somewhere else.
open/close all folders
Lord Alester Florent
Lord Alester Florent, Hand of the King
- "Is it treason to say the truth? A bitter truth, but no less true for that."
Head of House Florent and Lord of Brightwater. Appointed Hand of the King by Stannis Baratheon. Married to Melara Crane and father of one son, Alekyne, and two daughters, Melessa and Rhea, the fourth wife of Lord Leyton Hightower. Brother to Axell, Ryam, Colin, and Rylene.
- Ambition Is Evil: His ambition for his house causes him to side with Stannis and quickly change the gods he had worshiped all his life. He is called out on it by Ser Cortnay Penrose at the parlay at Storm's End:Lord Alester: You know me for a man of honor-Ser Cortnay: I know you for a man of ambition. A man who changes kings and gods the way I change my boots.
- Bling of War: Wears red-gold armor with inlaid lapis flowers on the breastplate, which he lost during the disorganized retreat from the Battle of the Blackwater.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Going above the King's head to secure a peace deal probably shouldn't go unpunished, but burning alive? Even Davos thinks this is going too far.
- Dumbass Has a Point: While he was an idiot to think Stannis would ever surrender, he is right in pointing out that Stannis basically has no chance of winning the war after losing most of his soldiers, ships, and supporters on the Blackwater.
- Easy Evangelism: Converts to the faith of R'hllor within days of joining Stannis' cause. Unlike his brother Axell's conversion, it is strongly implied he did it more for political reasons than religious ones.
- Freudian Slip: When begging Axell not to leave him in the dungeon without any light, he makes the mistake of saying "gods" instead of "god", which simply angers Axell, a R'hllor fanatic, even further.
- Human Sacrifice: In punishment for betraying Stannis, he is burned alive by Melisandre to gain favorable winds when Stannis sails north to the Wall.
- Number Two: He's Stannis's Hand of the King, until he gets the bright idea to try and forge a treaty with King's Landing after the Battle of Blackwater Bay by offering to marry Stannis' daughter Shireen to Tommen and have Stannis' retract his claims that Cersei's children were products of incest in exchange of Stannis being pardoned and allowed to rule both Dragonstone and Storm's End. Naturally, he is thrown into prison when Stannis discovered he had done this.
- Only Sane Man: He considers himself this after the Battle of the Blackwater, since he is the only one of Stannis's advisors to suggest bending the knee to the Iron Throne instead of continuing the war.
- Opportunistic Bastard: How he comes across to everyone else. When Renly and Stannis each declare themselves king, Alester declares for Renly, despite Stannis being the rightful king and Selyse being his wife. This can be chalked up to Alester being loyal to his liege lord, Mace Tyrell, who declared the Reach for Renly, though it is pointed out that Brightwater Keep is too close to Highgarden for the Florents to risk Tyrell displeasure. However when Renly dies Alester breaks his oath to Mace and heads over to Stannis' camp, because if Stannis wins it will mean House Florent gets more political power in the Reach (though Mace hadn't declared for Joffrey yet). Then when Stannis' campaign is failing Alester goes behind his back and selfishly offers Shireen to the crown (as in the Lannisters who are known for their cruelty and child abuse), in exchange for a pardon and Brightwater Keep back in Florent hands. Loyalty is not this man's strongest quality.
- Pet the Dog: He offers his condolences to Davos after he hears that his sons have died. And, given that he easily could have just bailed on him and betrayed over to the Lannisters, he specifically makes sure that Stannis is given amnesty in his proposed peace deal.
- Skewed Priorities: Complains at length about losing his fine wardrobe as one of the "horrors" of war. He's unknowingly talking to a man who's lost children.
- Thicker Than Water: He is convinced of this, and thus positive that Selyse and his brother Axell won't allow him to be kept in the dungeons forever. He is shocked when Axell calls him a traitor and refuses to do anything to help him, even saying that he wants to burn Alester alive for what he did, which does happen.
- Token Good Teammate: Despite his flaws, he is the only Florent encountered so far who is not a R'hllor fanatic or a complete Jerkass. He even treats Davos courteously.
- Too Dumb to Live: Seriously, what about Stannis made Alester ever think he could go behind his back with the above mentioned deal or that Principles Zealot Stannis would ever agree to it?
- Took a Level in Kindness: He's originally characterized as a pompous ass, but the Blackwater seems to genuinely horrify him and he becomes a lot more compassionate.
- Turn Coat: While initially supporting Renly's bid for the Iron Throne, Alester was among the first lords to switch their support to Stannis after Renly was killed.
Lord Alekyne Florent
Lord Alekyne Florent
The only son and heir of the late Lord Alester Florent.
- The Exile: After House Florent is attainted by the Iron Throne.
- The Ghost: He has not been seen in the series so far, only mentioned.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After the Florents are stripped of Brightwater Keep he seeks refuge at the Hightower of Oldtown as his sister Rhea is the wife of Lord Leyton Hightower, instead of attempting to defend his claim to Brightwater Keep.
- You Are in Command Now: He becomes nominal Lord of Brightwater Keep after his father's death.
Ser Axell Florent
See the Queen's Men page.
Ser Imry Florent
Ser Imry Florent
- "A small spoon of victory is just the thing to settle the stomach before battle. It makes the men hungry for a larger helping."
Alester's nephew, being the son of his brother Ryam, and elder brother to Queen Selyse. He is appointed Lord High Captain of Stannis' fleet and captain of the Fury.
- The Captain: Of the Fury, Stannis' flagship.
- Character Death: Killed at the Battle of Blackwater Bay when the Fury is engulfed by wildfire.
- Dumbass Has a Point: His battleplan only really fails because the Lannisters end up producing an unprecedented amount of wildfire. He also implements the genuinely smart tactic of only using oars when approaching King's Landing so as to not have billowing sails presenting an easy target for trebuchets.
- General Failure: His refusal to follow Davos' advice in the Battle of the Blackwater (sending scouts into Blackwater Bay to determine the enemy's defenses and sniff out possible traps) led to most of Stannis' fleet being destroyed in Tyrion's wildfire trap.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Even Davos, after being brusquely dismissed by Imry, notes that his haste is justified by the fact the weather has slowed the fleet's progression, and that Stannis's army is likely waiting for them at the Blackwater Rush, with Stannis growing ever more impatient with the delay, something Davos knows is best avoided.
- Leeroy Jenkins: He charges Stannis' fleet straight up the Blackwater and blindly engages the Royal Fleet without scouting it out, getting most of the fleet destroyed and the crews killed.
- My Nayme Is: Imry instead of Emory.
- Pet the Dog: Thanks Davos for his advice, even if he ultimately disregards it.
- The Proud Elite: Refuses to listen to Davos because of his lowborn status and history as a smuggler, despite Davos' extensive experience on the sea.
- Too Dumb to Live: Arrogantly believed that any tricks the Lannisters might have waiting for his fleet in Blackwater Bay would be overcome by the sheer number of ships in the fleet, and he was unaware of how much wildfire the Lannisters actually had.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Appears only briefly in one chapter before being killed.
Queen Selyse Florent
Queen Selyse Baratheon (nee Florent)
- See the House Baratheon character page.
Ser Erren Florent
Ser Erren Florent
The youngest brother of Queen Selyse. Like most members of House Florent, he initially declared for Renly and went over to Stannis after Renly's death. After bending the knee to Stannis he was sent to Bitterbridge along with Ser Parmen Crane to retrieve the rest of Renly's army, but was captured by the Tyrells.
- Badass in Distress: Has spent almost the entire War of the Five Kings imprisoned at Highgarden.
- Gender-Blender Name: Erren sounds identical to Erin, a feminine name, yet's he's male.
- The Ghost: He has yet to appear in the novels.
