Alan Tarly

Alan Tarly was a lord and military opponent of Ormund Hightower during the Dance of the Dragons. His recorded role is concentrated in the campaign in the Reach: he joined Alan Beesbury in harrying Hightower’s much larger host, then helped bring it to battle at the Honeywine. The intervention of Daeron Targaryen and Tessarion reversed the fight, and Tarly was taken captive.

Campaign against Ormund Hightower

When Ormund Hightower marched south from Oldtown with a large army, Alan Tarly and Ser Alan Beesbury set upon him despite commanding far fewer men. The two commanders harassed Hightower’s force day and night: they raided its camps, killed scouts, and set fires along its line of march. Their pressure helped prevent Ormund from advancing without support from King’s Landing.

Tarly’s part in the campaign continued as the opposing forces converged on the Honeywine. Thaddeus Rowan and Tom Flowers approached from the northeast, while Tarly, Beesbury, and Owen Costayne cut off Ormund’s retreat toward Oldtown. The forces attacking from both directions left Hightower’s army close to defeat.

Defeat and capture

The balance changed when Daeron Targaryen arrived on Tessarion. The dragon’s intervention enabled Ormund’s men to counterattack; Rowan retreated, Tom Flowers was killed, and the two Alans were captured. Tarly’s campaign therefore ended not with the destruction of Hightower’s host, which his forces had helped bring near defeat, but with his own capture after the sudden reversal at the Honeywine.

Role in the campaign

The account presents Tarly through military action rather than personal biography. His documented significance lies in the contrast between the effectiveness of the coordinated harassment and encirclement, which placed Ormund in serious danger, and the decisive impact of a single dragon’s arrival. Tarly is one of the two captured commanders identified as the battle’s outcome turned against the Reach forces.