Alan Beesbury

Alan Beesbury, heir to Lord Lyman Beesbury, emerged as a prominent supporter of Rhaenyra in the Reach. He called for his imprisoned grandfather’s release and joined the armed opposition to Ormund Hightower’s march; after Daeron Targaryen’s intervention at the Honeywine, Alan was taken captive.

Identity and Allegiance

Alan was Lord Lyman Beesbury’s heir. During the struggle for the Iron Throne, he declared for Rhaenyra and became, in the account of the conflict, the loudest among the Reachmen opposing King Aegon. His political position was also personal: he demanded the release of his grandfather, whom many believed was being held in a dungeon after his removal as master of coin.

The pressure from Alan and other bannermen contributed to a reversal at Highgarden. The castellan, steward, and mother of the young Lord Tyrell, acting as regents, reconsidered their support for King Aegon and decided that House Tyrell would take no part in the war. Alan’s influence thus formed part of a broader challenge to the Greens’ authority in the Reach, where several lords had declared for Rhaenyra despite the support of House Hightower and Oldtown for Aegon.

Opposition to Ormund Hightower

After Otto Hightower appealed to his nephew Ormund to suppress the rebellions in the Reach, Ormund marched from Oldtown with a large host. Alan Beesbury and Lord Alan Tarly, commanding far fewer men, harried the advance: they raided camps, killed scouts, and set fires along the line of march. Lord Owen Costayne also attacked Ormund’s baggage train, while a force led by Thaddeus Rowan threatened the Hightower army near the Mander. Unable to continue without support from King’s Landing, Ormund wrote for the king’s dragons.

A fortnight later, Alan joined Lord Alan Tarly and Lord Owen Costayne in cutting off Ormund’s retreat to Oldtown. At the Honeywine, Ormund found himself caught between their forces and the host advancing from the northeast under Thaddeus Rowan and Tom Flowers. The queen’s forces attacked from front and rear, and Ormund’s lines began to crumble before a dragon’s arrival changed the battle.

Capture at the Honeywine

The dragon was Tessarion, ridden by Daeron Targaryen. Daeron’s intervention turned the fighting against the queen’s army. By the end of the battle, Rowan was retreating north, Tom Flowers was dead, and the two Alans—Beesbury and Tarly—had been captured. Costayne was dying from a wound inflicted by Bold Jon Roxton.

Alan’s capture is the last outcome established in this account. His campaign had helped place Ormund’s army under pressure and threaten its route back to Oldtown, but the arrival of Daeron and Tessarion reversed that advance and ended with Alan in enemy hands.

Role in the Conflict

Alan’s brief appearance links the political fracture in the Reach to the fighting on the ground. His demand for Lyman’s release gave voice to opposition within the region, while his actions alongside Alan Tarly and Costayne helped turn that opposition into a direct military threat to Ormund’s march. The contrast between their early success in harrying a larger army and their eventual capture at the Honeywine shows how decisively dragon power could alter the fortunes of a campaign.