Thank you for this ask! The funny thing is, I was already going to post something about the Baratheon brothers today… though with more of a focus on Stannis, because tbh I find Stannis far more interesting than his brothers. Of course that’s mostly because Stannis gets a lot more characterization and development, due to both the multiple POV characters surrounding him and the fact that he’s, y’know, the only one still alive and all… but anyway. My thoughts on Renly:
…Er, do I have thoughts on Renly? To be honest, for a long time I really didn’t. He was just kind of… there. Fairly basic, nice guy, witty and handsome, it’s a pity he died… For me, for a while, his death was the most interesting thing about him. From the whole weirdness of Melisandre’s shadow babies, to the way it twisted around the whole War of the Five Kings (first sign that this was not going to be your typical medieval fantasy war), to the emotions it provoked in Loras, Brienne, and Stannis… It really felt like GRRM created him just for that death.
But the show came along, and pointed out something I hadn’t really noticed… Renly isn’t just witty, he’s intelligent. (Let me just note, I mentally separate show!Renly and book!Renly because they are somewhat different characters, but I do let the show open my mind to different interpretations.) As Robert’s Master of Laws on the Small Council, Renly no doubt noted the way the country was falling to injustice and corruption. In hopes of freeing Robert from Lannister control (and also his Lannister heirs), he was planning on introducing Margaery Tyrell to court to be his new queen. And when all that fell through because of Robert’s death, he wasted little time in getting the heck out of Dodge to work on alternate plans.
Also, Renly’s rather perceptive, and surprisingly radical. While Ned is stuck in the rule of law, saying he has to support Stannis because he’s Robert’s true heir, Renly points out that law has nothing to do with it. Yeah, sure Robert got the throne because of his Targaryen grandmother — no, he won it when he defeated Rhaegar and the Targaryen army. (And the Targaryens only had the throne in the first place because they conquered the country.) While Stannis doesn’t even want the throne but goes for it because he feels it’s his right and duty to do so as Robert’s heir, Renly asks, why shouldn’t the throne go to the best man for the job?
Now, the question is, despite Renly’s anti-succession / pro-meritocracy feelings (I can’t say he’s an anti-monarchist, because as far as we know he was still for the whole concept of kings, and not representative democracy), would he really have been the best man for the job? And it’s a little hard to answer that. Because Renly was a lot like Robert. Handsome, friendly, charismatic, attractive to women, a fine warrior, generous… the major difference (besides his perceptiveness, as said above) is because of Renly’s preference for men (and devotion to one man), he wasn’t prone to the same gross excesses and corruption the way Robert was.
Or at least, not in his lifetime. The most worrying thing to me about Renly’s king potential was the way his army lazily moved along the Roseroad like it was party city. Some of this could certainly be due to the Tyrell wealth and influence, and Renly’s desire to attract supporters via warm charisma rather than Stannis’s cold duty… but the constant tournaments and lavish feasts in a time of privation makes me feel the same way Cat did, that Renly was a summer child with no idea that winter was coming.
And yes, he was young, only 21. I’m sure that with good counsel, and good people surrounding him, Renly could have been a good king, “the best of all of them”, but… it’s important to note that Robert was also young, only 20 when he became king. If Renly had lived and won the throne, but Loras had died along the way, I would not have been surprised to see him go the same way as Robert… dissolute, disaffected, hedonistic, wildly generous to the point of putting the crown hugely in debt (to the Tyrells this time instead of the Lannisters)… and in the end, no better than his brother.
Hope this satisfies! 🙂 Note that by all means I’m not a Renly expert — if you want more opinions, I recommend the Renly Baratheon tag on ASOIAF University, and the people who post in it.
I love this.
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