Elmo Tully

Elmo Tully was the grandson of Grover Tully and the decisive voice behind Riverrun’s eventual entry into the Dance of the Dragons on Rhaenyra’s side. Faced first with his bedridden grandfather’s insistence that Riverrun support King Aegon II, Elmo resisted an immediate commitment; when Seasmoke came to Riverrun, however, he called the banners for the queen. After Grover’s death, Elmo became Lord of Riverrun and summoned the riverlords to war again, but died while leading them toward King’s Landing.

Riverrun Between Two Claims

At the outbreak of the conflict, Grover Tully insisted that Riverrun should fight for the young King Aegon, a position consistent with the male claimant’s rights Grover had favored at the Great Council of 101. His grandson took a more cautious view of the immediate danger. Elmo pointed out that Riverrun had no defense against dragonfire and that both sides had dragons; he would sooner the rest of the household survive than die with his grandfather’s cause. While Grover thundered from his deathbed, Riverrun barred its gates, manned its walls, and held its silence. The castle’s caution left the Tully position unresolved rather than openly committed to either claimant.

That silence ended when Seasmoke descended on Riverrun. The dragon’s arrival persuaded Elmo to call his banners for Rhaenyra, directly defying Grover’s wishes. The change was not a gradual declaration of loyalty: the immediate presence of a dragon settled the doubts that had kept Riverrun behind its walls. The Tully choice thus shifted from armed restraint to active support for the queen.

Lord of Riverrun and Leader of the Riverlords

Grover died after Elmo’s first decision to support Rhaenyra. Elmo then inherited Riverrun and called the lords of the Trident to war once more. The renewed mobilization came amid King Aegon II’s campaign against Crownlands lords who had supported the late queen: although those lords lowered Rhaenyra’s banner and raised the king’s, they were taken in chains to King’s Landing and made to pay ransoms and provide hostages. Elmo called the riverlords lest Riverrun suffer the same treatment.

Near six thousand men gathered at Riverrun under his call. They marched down the kingsroad toward King’s Landing, and were only six days from the city when Lord Borros Baratheon led his stormlanders out to meet them. Elmo did not live to reach the battle. After drinking bad water on the march, he died, and the lordship passed to his eldest son, Ser Kermit Tully. Elmo had been Lord of Riverrun for only forty-nine days.

A Brief, Consequential Tenure

Elmo’s short tenure connected three distinct turns in House Tully’s role in the war: Grover’s insistence on Aegon’s cause, Elmo’s decision for Rhaenyra after Seasmoke appeared, and a second call to arms under Elmo’s own lordship. The first brought Riverrun into the queen’s camp; the second sent a substantial riverlord host toward the capital after Aegon’s reprisals intensified the conflict. Elmo’s death on the road transferred leadership to Kermit just as the riverlords approached the final confrontation, leaving the consequences of Elmo’s choices to be carried forward by his son.