The Lion Gate was one of the seven gates of King’s Landing. During the unrest that threatened Rhaenyra Targaryen’s rule, its defenders joined the mobs and opened the gate to her foes, turning a city entrance into a breach from within.

Place in King’s Landing

The account identifies the Lion Gate as one of the city’s seven gates but gives no further description of its position or construction. Its significance emerges instead from the crisis unfolding inside the walls: King’s Landing’s defenses had been designed to resist attack from outside, while the danger was now coming from within the city itself.

The Gate Opens

Before an hour had passed, the King’s Gate and the Lion Gate were open as well. The Gold Cloaks at the King’s Gate had fled; at the Lion Gate, the defenders had thrown in with the mobs. Along with the earlier opening of the Gate of the Gods, this left three of the seven gates open to Rhaenyra’s foes.

Significance

The Lion Gate’s opening marks the collapse of organized resistance at another point in the city’s defenses. Its defenders did not merely abandon their post: they aligned themselves with the insurgents, helping turn disorder into a direct threat to the queen’s hold on King’s Landing.