Medrick Manderly

Ser Medrick Manderly is the heir to White Harbor and a knight who serves Rhaenyra Targaryen during the breakdown of her rule. He appears in three different roles as the crisis deepens: a commander helping to reclaim part of King’s Landing, one of the Seven Who Rode into the burning city, and a loyal supporter urging the queen to withdraw to White Harbor. His actions connect the struggle to keep the capital under control with the later effort to preserve Rhaenyra’s safety and political prospects.

Identity and Position

Medrick is identified as a Manderly of White Harbor and the heir to that northern seat. He is the elder brother of Ser Torrhen Manderly, who also appears as a military leader and political adviser. The two brothers do not always take the same role in the events: Medrick is described leading White Harbor men in the effort to restore order, while Torrhen later leads a separate force through the city and advises Rhaenyra about where she might find refuge.

Medrick’s position gives him a connection to one of the queen’s potential sources of support in the North. That connection is practical as well as familial: when Rhaenyra is forced to leave King’s Landing and later finds herself without money or ships, Medrick offers to take her with him and Torrhen back to White Harbor. The proposal is rejected, but it shows that his support includes an attempt to provide her with a specific alternative to remaining exposed in the south.

The Council’s Suspicion

As Rhaenyra’s advisers debate the loyalty of dragonriders born outside marriage, Medrick and Torrhen are among those who counsel mistrust. Ulf White and Hugh Hammer have defected to the enemy, and the queen’s council fears that Addam Velaryon and Nettles might do the same. Medrick and his brother urge the queen not to take chances when the loss of two more dragons might prove decisive.

The council’s argument is driven by the danger of further defections, but the episode also places Medrick on the side of caution at a moment when suspicion is spreading beyond the proven traitors. Lord Corlys Velaryon and Grand Maester Gerardys defend the dragonriders, pointing out that no evidence establishes their disloyalty. Rhaenyra nevertheless becomes suspicious. Medrick’s advice therefore belongs to the increasingly fearful deliberations that precede her wider collapse, rather than to a demonstrated act of betrayal by either Addam or Nettles.

Restoring Order in King’s Landing

During the city’s revolt and disorder, Medrick leads a hundred men from White Harbor in restoring a measure of control in the area northeast of Aegon’s High Hill, extending down to the Iron Gate. The action is one part of a fragmented attempt to regain the capital: the surviving gold cloaks operate elsewhere, while lawless bands have taken over much of the city. Medrick’s force helps secure a defined district, but does not end the wider crisis.

The limits of that success become clearer when his brother Torrhen later leads northmen down the Hook. They encounter Ser Perkin the Flea’s followers around Fishermonger’s Square and River Row, and King Trystane’s banner flies over the River Gate. Torrhen loses a quarter of his men in fighting their way back to the Red Keep. The contrast between the brothers’ episodes shows how localized any recovery of the city remains: Medrick’s men restore order in one area, while other streets and gates remain contested and dangerous.

One of the Seven Who Rode

That night, Medrick rides from the Red Keep as one of the Seven Who Rode, the group sent into the chaos after Prince Joffrey leaves on Syrax. The named riders are Medrick, Ser Loreth Lansdale, Ser Harrold Darke, Ser Harmon of the Reeds, Ser Gyles Yronwood, Ser Willam Royce, and Ser Glendon Goode. Six squires, eight gold cloaks, and twenty men-at-arms accompany them, though their names are not preserved.

The chroniclers disagree about what moved the seven men to ride. One account emphasizes their duty to obey the queen; another presents them as responding to a mother’s love for her son; Mushroom depicts them as seeking reward and underestimating the danger. The narrative allows that these explanations may each contain part of the truth, but does not assign Medrick a particular motive. His inclusion among the named champions establishes his participation, not the precise thoughts that prompted it. The ride becomes a subject of songs, yet the account cautions that the songs do not reliably tell what happened; it describes Joffrey’s attempt to fly Syrax as courageous but foolish, without giving Medrick a separate deed or outcome during the ride.

Counsel at Duskendale

After Rhaenyra flees King’s Landing, Medrick tries to persuade her to accompany him and Torrhen to White Harbor. The queen has lost access to her fleet after sending Lord Corlys to the dungeons, has fled without money, and is staying at Duskendale. Harrold Darke separately urges her to seek refuge with Lady Jeyne Arryn in the Vale. Rhaenyra refuses both proposals and insists on returning to Dragonstone, where she hopes to find dragon eggs and obtain another dragon.

Medrick’s offer thus comes at a point when the queen’s immediate security and her military hopes are bound together. He proposes refuge in the North; she chooses the island where she believes she can recover a dragon and continue her cause. To pay for passage, she sells her crown and boards the Braavosi merchantman Violande. When the vessel reaches Dragonstone, Medrick and the other Manderlys remain aboard, bound for White Harbor. The account records his counsel and departure from Rhaenyra’s company, but does not state his later fate.