Game of Thrones: 5 Characters the Aegon the Conqueror prequel must get right

3. Orys Baratheon

One of Aegon’s closest allies (and possibly his bastard brother) was Orys Baratheon. At the time of the conquest, the Stormlands were ruled by King Argilac Durrandon, who was not keen on kneeling to Aegon. After the Aegonfort was established and the Conqueror crowned king of Westeros, Orys became the first Hand of the King. Orys led Aegon’s ground forces south to meet Argilac in the field during the first major battle of the war. The battle was later known as the Last Storm. Argilac put up a good fight but proved no match for Rhaenys and her dragon Meraxes. In the thick of the battle, Orys slayed Argilac himself, which caused the rest of the host to surrender or flee.

With her father dead, Argilac’s daughter Argella declared herself the Storm Queen. But her garrison did not wish to burn, and they delivered Argella to Orys naked and in shackles. Orys was disgusted at her treatment and used his own cloak to cover the girl. When Aegon rewarded Orys with Storm’s End, he took Argella as his wife and the Durrandon sigil and words as his own, establishing House Baratheon.

During the first Dornish War, Orys led an assault on a dangerous mountain pass called the Boneway. After a surprise attack by the Dornish House Wyl and a rock slide that blocked off his retreat, Orys’ forces were decimated and he was captured alongside a handful of lords. Aegon agreed to pay the ransom, but Orys’ sword arm was cut off by Lord Wyl before he was returned to ensure he would never fight against Dorne again. Orys became bitter after this event and soon resigned as Hand.

Years later, during the reign of Aenys I, a Dornishman called the Vulture King led a group to raid the lands north of the Dornish mountains. House Wyl was among them, and while they were besieging a castle called Stonehelm, Orys and his men and crushed the Wyl host from behind. Lord Walter Wyl was captured and delivered to Orys alive, and Orys proceeded to chop off all of his limbs. On the way back to Storm’s End, Orys died of wounds from the battle, but he allegedly died happy knowing he got revenge.

Orys is Aegon’s closest friend, so he’d be an important character on any kind of Aegon show. I would like to see his backstory expanded, as author George R.R. Martin only suggests that he could be a Targaryen bastard in his book Fire & Blood.