Harwin Strong

Harwin Strong, known as Breakbones, was the eldest son and heir of Lyonel Strong, Lord of Harrenhal, and a formidable fighter whose closeness to Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen made him a conspicuous figure in the growing division at court. After Ser Criston Cole’s loyalty shifted to Queen Alicent’s party, Harwin became Rhaenyra’s foremost champion and constant companion. His sudden death alongside his father in the fire at Harrenhal removed a powerful ally from her circle, while leaving unanswered questions about the blaze that killed them.

Identity and Background

Harwin was one of Lyonel Strong’s two sons, brought with his family to King’s Landing when Lyonel joined King Viserys Targaryen’s small council as master of laws. Lyonel’s elder daughter and younger daughter became handmaids to Rhaenyra; Harwin’s younger brother, Larys Strong, joined the king’s confessors. Harwin himself entered royal service as a captain in the gold cloaks, the city watch of King’s Landing. As Lyonel’s eldest son, he was heir to Harrenhal as well as a member of a family increasingly connected to the princess and her court.

The sources distinguish Harwin’s imposing physical strength from his father’s reputation for learned judgment. Harwin was called Breakbones, a name that reflected his renown as a powerful man and fighter. He was described as the strongest man in the Seven Kingdoms, a reputation that followed him from the city watch into the circles around Rhaenyra. His later sobriquet, Brokenbones, arose after Ser Criston Cole injured him during the celebrations for Rhaenyra’s marriage.

Rise at Rhaenyra’s Court

Harwin was among the men who paid court to Rhaenyra as King Viserys and his council considered whom she might marry. Suitors included the sons of several great houses, Ser Jason Lannister and his twin Ser Tyland Lannister, and Ser Criston Cole. Harwin’s position as heir to Harrenhal and his standing as a celebrated fighter made him a notable candidate, but the evidence does not say that he was chosen as a prospective husband. The king also considered a marriage to the Prince of Dorne, while Queen Alicent promoted her own son, Aegon Targaryen; Viserys rejected that match.

Harwin’s place beside Rhaenyra changed after her relationship with Ser Criston broke down. The chroniclers preserve conflicting accounts of the encounter between the princess and Criston: Septon Eustace and Mushroom disagree about who approached whom and how the encounter unfolded. They agree, however, that Criston rejected Rhaenyra and that the relationship between the former companions turned to hostility. In the account that follows, Rhaenyra encountered Harwin after leaving Criston; Mushroom claims that Harwin then became her lover. Because the sources differ and the account is attributed to Mushroom, the precise circumstances are not secure.

What followed publicly is clearer. When Rhaenyra sailed to Driftmark, Harwin went with her as her new champion. At her wedding to Ser Laenor Velaryon in 114 AC, she bestowed her favor on Harwin during the festivities. Criston, now aligned with Queen Alicent, fought in the tournament wearing the queen’s token. He defeated Harwin, leaving him with injuries that prompted Mushroom to call him Brokenbones. The episode marked a public reversal: the man who had once been Rhaenyra’s protector and companion now stood among her opponents, while Harwin occupied the place Criston had left.

Champion, Companion, and Contested Paternity

After the wedding, Harwin became the foremost supporter of Rhaenyra’s party, later known as the blacks. He remained at her side at feasts, balls, and hunts, while Criston belonged wholly to the queen’s greens. Laenor returned to Driftmark and spent much of his time apart from the princess, preferring life at High Tide. Harwin’s prominence in Rhaenyra’s household thus grew alongside the increasingly visible separation between the princess and her husband.

The birth of Rhaenyra’s sons intensified the political meaning of Harwin’s closeness to her. Jacaerys Velaryon was born in 114 AC, and Lucerys Velaryon late in 115 AC. Both boys were described as having brown hair and brown eyes, unlike Laenor’s silver-white hair and purple eyes. Septon Eustace records that Laenor and Harwin were both present at Lucerys’s birth. The children’s appearance fed suspicions about their parentage, but the evidence does not establish Harwin’s paternity as fact. King Viserys welcomed the boys, whereas Queen Alicent’s reported remarks and the deepening estrangement between her and Rhaenyra made the dispute increasingly difficult to contain.

After further conflict over the children, Viserys ordered Rhaenyra to remain on Dragonstone with her sons and sent Harwin back to Harrenhal. Ser Erryk Cargyll became Rhaenyra’s sworn shield instead. The separation ended Harwin’s visible role at her side, but did not resolve the rumors surrounding the children or the political antagonism they had helped sharpen.

Death at Harrenhal

In 120 AC, Lyonel accompanied Harwin on his return to Harrenhal, the great, partly ruined castle on the lakeshore. A fire broke out in the tower where they were sleeping. Lyonel and Harwin died, as did three of their retainers and twelve servants. The loss was both familial and political: Lyonel had served as the king’s Hand, while Harwin had been Rhaenyra’s leading champion. With both men dead, Larys Strong became Lord of Harrenhal.

The cause of the fire was never determined. Some accounts treated it as an accident; others attributed the disaster to a curse associated with Harrenhal. The chroniclers also report suspicions of deliberate arson, but disagree about who might have arranged it. Mushroom points toward Corlys Velaryon, supposedly seeking vengeance over Harwin’s relationship with Laenor. Septon Eustace considers Daemon Targaryen a likelier suspect, on the grounds that Harwin was a rival for Rhaenyra’s affections. Other speculation implicates Larys, who inherited Harrenhal after the deaths of his father and brother. Grand Maester Mellos even raises the possibility that Viserys ordered Harwin’s death to prevent him from exposing the suspected bastardy of Rhaenyra’s sons, though Lyonel’s death in the same fire was not anticipated. These remain competing theories, not established explanations.

Narrative Role and Significance

Harwin’s story is told through contrasts between private uncertainty and public consequence. The accounts of his relationship with Rhaenyra disagree about its beginnings, and the boys’ parentage remains a matter of suspicion rather than proof. Yet the political effects are plain: Harwin’s presence beside the princess, the appearance of her sons, and the queen’s hostility deepened the division between the blacks and the greens. His career also provides a sharp counterpoint to Criston Cole’s. Both men were celebrated fighters close to Rhaenyra, but Criston’s rejection of her turned him into her bitter foe, while Harwin became her champion. Harwin’s death at Harrenhal then closes his personal story in the same uncertainty that had surrounded his relationship: the fire is certain, but its cause is not.