Jaehaerys’s reconciliation with Rogar Baratheon turned a summons that might have ended in execution or exile into a negotiated restoration of trust. The young king pardoned his former Hand, but not by pretending their conflict had never happened: he named Rogar’s disloyal words and plans, imposed obligations concerning both queens, and punished the men who had acted on Rogar’s behalf. The resulting peace reunited Rogar and Alyssa and brought one of the most powerful lords of the realm back into the king’s service.

The summons and its stakes

Jaehaerys did not call Rogar back to King’s Landing until he had made sweeping changes to the royal household. He replaced dozens of officeholders, from the Keeper of the Keys and the chief steward of the Red Keep to the master-at-arms and even the castle ratcatchers. He also ordered the dungeons cleared and their prisoners brought into the sun, bathed, and allowed to appeal. Only when his new men were in place did he instruct Grand Maester Benifer to send the raven summoning Rogar from Storm’s End. The sequence made the pardon a decision taken from a position of newly consolidated authority, rather than a concession forced from the king.

The letter divided Rogar’s brothers. Ser Borys Baratheon, usually regarded as the most volatile of them, advised Rogar to refuse the summons and take the black instead. Garon and Ronnal urged resistance, arguing that Storm’s End was strong enough to defy the king. Rogar rejected both courses. He reasoned that Jaehaerys could come for him if he chose, and preferred to face the king and explain himself; if necessary, he could still join the Night’s Watch. He set out the next morning with only six of his oldest knights, men who had known him since childhood.

The audience before the Iron Throne

Jaehaerys received Rogar seated on the Iron Throne, wearing his crown. The council attended, and Ser Joffrey Doggett and Ser Lorence Roxton of the Kingsguard stood at the throne’s base, but the rest of the throne room was empty. According to Grand Maester Benifer, Rogar’s footsteps echoed across the long walk from the doors. The sparse audience avoided forcing the proud lord to humble himself before the whole court, even as the throne and the king’s gathered supporters made the balance of power unmistakable.

Rogar knelt, bowed his head, and laid down his sword. He asked Jaehaerys to do as he would with him, pleading only that his brothers and House Baratheon be spared. Before Rogar could finish defending his conduct, the king stopped him. Jaehaerys said he knew what Rogar had done, said, and planned, but believed that Rogar had not intended harm to the king or queen. He recalled that when Alyssa had sought refuge, Rogar had sheltered her and her children at great risk, rather than surrendering them to the king’s uncle. That earlier loyalty, Jaehaerys insisted, mattered alongside the later breach of trust.

The king distinguished between Rogar’s treasonous proposals and completed treason. Rogar had spoken of undoing Jaehaerys’s marriage and placing Princess Aerea Targaryen on the Iron Throne, but neither plan had been carried out. He had sent his brother to remove Rhaella Targaryen from her motherhouse; Jaehaerys acknowledged the act, while allowing that Rogar might have intended to take his niece as a ward. The distinction did not erase the threat, but it shaped the punishment: words and failed designs could be pardoned, while actions taken by Rogar’s associates would still incur a penalty.

Terms of pardon and the king’s surety

Jaehaerys offered Rogar a choice between the Wall and renewed service. The king said he needed loyal warriors around him, anticipating that opposition might arise when his marriage became known. Rogar answered that he was willing to serve. Jaehaerys then pardoned him on conditions: Rogar was never again to speak against the king or Queen Alysanne, and was to defend her from criticism in his presence. He also had to treat Jaehaerys’s mother, Queen Alyssa, with honor and courtesy, and return with her to Storm’s End to live as her husband once more. Rogar accepted these terms gladly.

Rogar then asked about his brother Ser Orryn and the men who had accompanied him to Oldtown. Jaehaerys agreed to command Lord Hightower to free them, but sentenced the group to ten years of exile rather than letting them go unpunished. They could sell their swords in the Disputed Lands or seek their fortunes in Qarth; if they survived and committed no further crimes, they could return after the term. Rogar accepted the sentence and asked whether the king wanted hostages as assurance of his loyalty, offering the children of three of his brothers.

Jaehaerys answered by leading Rogar from the hall into the inner ward, where Vermithor was feeding on a slaughtered bull. The dragon raised his head as the king approached and scratched him beneath the jaw. Jaehaerys told Rogar to keep the children and said that his word was enough. Grand Maester Benifer understood the unspoken force of the scene: every person in the Stormlands was effectively within the king’s reach while Jaehaerys rode Vermithor. The king offered trust, but the dragon’s presence made clear that this trust rested on power as well as reconciliation.

Public settlement and consequence

That night, the peace was sealed at a feast in the great hall. Rogar sat beside Queen Alyssa, again his wife, and publicly toasted Queen Alysanne, pledging her his love and loyalty before the assembled lords and ladies. The ceremony made the settlement visible: the man who had challenged the king’s marriage now stood before the court affirming his support for the queen whose position he had once opposed.

Four days later, Rogar left to return to Storm’s End, with Alyssa beside him. Ser Pate the Woodcock and a hundred men-at-arms escorted them through the kingswood. The agreement thus restored a marriage as well as a political alliance, while removing Rogar’s brother and followers from the immediate struggle through exile. Jaehaerys began his long reign with the treasury empty, mounting Crown debts, and his secret marriage increasingly difficult to conceal; in that unsettled moment, bringing a former Hand back into service was a practical act of statecraft as much as an act of mercy. The settlement’s balance was characteristic of the episode: pardon for Rogar, punishment for his agents, and a public promise backed by the unmistakable presence of a dragon.