  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | Ser Rolph Spicer, Lady Sybell's brother. He was castellan at the Crag when we took it. | „ |
| ~ Robb Stark describing Rolph Spicer. |
Lord Rolph Spicer, initially introduced as Ser Rolph Spicer, is a minor antagonist in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series. He is a knight of House Spicer and the grandson of Maggy the Frog, a witch known to have read Cersei Lannister's future. He is the older brother of Lady Sybell Spicer and the uncle of Jeyne Westerling, Robb Stark's widow and former queen consort.
After the Red Wedding, Rolph rose to lordship and was named by the Crown the new and current Lord of Castamere, making him the current head of House Spicer, a minor lordly house, unlike its predecessor that was the major and powerful House Reyne. Rolph presumably rules over much smaller tracts of land and fewer houses, in comparison to the Reynes before him.
Biography[]
Lord Rolph Spicer is the grandson of a lowborn and wealthy spice merchant and a witch from the east (Essos), known by the citizens of Lannisport as "Maggy" or "Maggy the Frog." Her true name has been forgotten, as it was too long and foreign for the smallfolk to pronounce, while "Maggy" was likely a bastardization of the word "maegi," which is what the woman was called in Essos. Rolph's grandfather was a trader in saffron and peper who is said to have married Maggy for her beauty when she was young. Rolph's grandmother, "Maggy," was brought with him from the east, worked as a fortune teller in Lannisport, and used to heal visitors.
Once the arrogant highborn 10-year-old Cersei Lannister irritated Maggy by harassing her in her own home with her young friends Melara Heatherspoon and Jeyne Farman, Maggy read Cersei and Melara's futures as the girls demanded, while Jeyne fled. Maggy and the spice trader had at least one son, who would become the founder of House Spicer, rising into Westerosi nobility by the grace of Lord Tytos Lannister. On the first Spicer and his wife, nothing is known other than the fact that they are the parents of Rolph and Sybell.
Later in their lives, Rolph's sister, Sybell Spicer, married Gawen Westerling, although Tyrion Lannister thinks that Gawen was "trapped" in the marriage (presumably in love with her). By then, a knight, Ser Rolph, had entered into House Westerling's service as one of its household knights at the Crag.
During the War of the Five Kings, Ser Rolph serves as the castellan of the Crag while his brother-in-law, Lord Gawen Westerling, fights in Ser Jaime Lannister's army in the invasion of the Riverlands. During the first siege of Riverrun, Gawen is taken captive by Robb Stark's army after the Battle in the Whispering Wood. He is later held by the Mallisters in their castle in the town of Seagard.
Later, during the war and rebellion for independence of the North and the Riverlands, King Robb invades the Westerlands, and after smashing Ser Stafford Lannister's inexperienced army at Oxcross, he invades several castles and settlements. Eventually, one night, the rebels storm the Crag, and Rolph leads the castle's garrison against the northmen and rivermen, less than 6,000 cavalry, who are led by Robb, Smalljon Umber, and Black Walder Frey. Rolph's garrison is defeated, and the Crag is taken and occupied by Robb's forces.
As King Robb is injured from the Storming of the Crag, Rolph and his sister, Lady Sybell Westerling, encourage Sybell's daughter Jeyne Westerling to nurse the Young Wolf. Jeyne is a pretty girl of the same age as Robb, 15 years old. Rolph and Sybell hope for the two to fall in love so their weak houses can finally gain more power and higher status. This plan eventually succeeds thanks to the rebellion of the Iron Islands by King Balon IX Greyjoy, as the Fall of Winterfell caused by Prince Theon Greyjoy leads to the alleged murders of Bran and Rickon Stark. Still healing at the Crag, Robb is filled with grief for his brothers' deaths, for everything that is happening to his family, and for Theon's betrayal, resulting in Jeyne comforting him and the two sleeping together.
Afterwards, for deflowering a daughter of his captives, Robb marries Jeyne, losing the allegiance of House Frey in the process, as Robb broke an oath he previously swore, which promised to marry a Frey woman after the war. Despite the fact that the Freys are far more powerful and wealthier than the Westerlings and the Spicers, Robb felt the duty to marry a highborn girl for having sex with her, but the Frey contingent led by Ser Ryman Frey abandons the cause and marches back to the Twins. Due to the fact that Jeyne became the Queen in the North and Queen of the Trident, both Spicers and Westerlings are no longer captives and officially become King Robb's vassals, making them traitors and rebels of the Westerlands against their lieges, as well as traitors and rebels against the Crown. The Crag is returned to the Westerlings, and Robb and his forces become guests.
To escape the wrath of House Westerling and House Spicer's liege Lord Tywin Lannister, Robb brings his wife, Rolph, Sybell, and Sybell's other children, Ser Raynald, Eleyna, and Rollam, with him. Rollam became Robb's squire, replacing Olyvar Frey. Due to King Stannis Baratheon's defeat in the Battle of the Blackwater, there is no longer any reason to occupy the Westerlands, and Robb's whole army abandons all its conquered lands and castles to retreat back to the Riverlands. Rolph leaves the Crag for the castle's garrison to hold against the Iron Throne.
Unbeknownst to Robb, however, Rolph and Sybell have been conspiring with Tywin all along for Robb's downfall. The two siblings never believed Robb's rebellion could ever hold against the Lannisters, and now, with Stannis's defeat, it definitely cannot hold against the united strength of the south under the Lannister-Tyrell alliance. Rolph and Sybell have been spying on Robb and reporting his moves and plans to Tywin, while making it clear that they are still loyal to the Lannisters and King Joffrey I Baratheon.
Rolph is part of Robb's host returning to Riverrun, the seat of House Tully. There, Robb introduces Rolph and the latter's sister, nephews, and nieces to Lady Catelyn Stark, Robb's mother. Robb's direwolf, Grey Wind, does not like Rolph and has been constantly growling at him throughout the whole march. Catelyn is concerned by this and thinks Robb should trust his direwolf's instincts more, knowing how the direwolf Summer saved her son Bran from a catspaw. Robb sends word to Seagard in order to have Lord Gawen Westerling released, as he is now his supposed bannerman and his father-in-law.
Rolph and Sybell are part of a secret conspiracy and a coalition of united efforts between nobles to ensure Robb Stark's downfall and death. Beside the two Spicers, the others are Tywin, Lord Walder Frey, and Lord Roose Bolton, with others involved being Ser Ryman Frey, Lothar Frey, and other members of House Frey. Only these people are involved in the conspiracy and keep a cordial relationship with each other. Through the letters, Walder informs his fellow schemers that he has ordered a massacre on Robb and his forces, and Lothar and Ryman came up with the Red Wedding. Lord Bolton is helping with the planning, and Tywin gives his approval for the plan, promising rewards and protection against revenge for everyone. Rolph and Sybell successfully negotiate for titles, rewards of lands, and good marriages. Jeyne and Robb keep trying to have heirs, but Sybell secretly gives her daughter potions that prevent pregnancy, unbeknownst to Jeyne, as her mother promises they will help her get pregnant.
After the captives Willem Lannister and Tion Frey are murdered by Lord Rickard Karstark and some of his men at Riverrun, Robb successfully negotiates a ransom for Martyn Lannister with his enemies. After "successfully" negotiating peace with House Frey, Robb and his forces begin marching back to the North for a planned war campaign against House Greyjoy's occupation, first intending to stop at the Twins for Lord Edmure Tully's wedding. As Grey Wind still does not trust Rolph, Robb chooses the knight to lead Martyn's escort guard to release him in the Westerlands. Later, Rolph delivers Martyn to the Golden Tooth, the seat of House Lefford, in exchange for Robett Glover, as agreed in the previous negotiations.
As planned by Rolph and his allies, Robb and most of his forces are massacred in the Red Wedding, while various highborn guests are captured alive and various common soldiers flee. However, as a result of the chaos and defiance, Rolph's nephew, Ser Raynald Westerling, ended up getting killed (presumably) by one of Ser Whalen Frey's men during the event. As only Rolph and his sister were part of the conspiracy, Queen Jeyne and all her siblings genuinely believed they were on the side of the Starks, and Raynald was being taken captive by the Freys. Rolph's family is later told, through the Freys' report, that Raynald resisted capture when he realized the Freys wanted to kill the direwolf Grey Wind and thus released the beast in an attempt to save him. After getting hit by a crossbow quarrel, Raynald fell into the river Green Fork, and his body has not been found after the massacre, but his blood trail ends upriver. Raynald is still missing.
For the part he played in the plan that led to the Red Wedding, Rolph and Sybell are pardoned by the Iron Throne. Rolph is rewarded by the Crown as promised; he is raised to the rank of lord and is given the lands and incomes of Castamere. By the time Rolph's ownership of Castamere and its lands is fully made official, King Joffrey is already dead, murdered during his own wedding feast. Ser Kevan Lannister has King Tommen I Baratheon sign a document recognizing Rolph as the Lord of Castamere. As it has been left in ruins since the Reyne-Tarbeck Revolt, the castle of Castamere needs repair and restauration. House Spicer's new lands are presumably not as large as they were under the powerful House Reyne's ruling, as much of their inhabited lands were likely split between neighboring lords by the Lannisters after the Reynes' fall.
Rolph's sister, his nephew Rollam, and his nieces Jeyne and Eleyna remain kept at Riverrun with the castellan, Ser Brynden Tully the Blackfish, who is unaware of Rolph and Sybell's involvement with the Red Wedding. The Westerlings are still at Riverrun when it falls under siege by Ser Daven Lannister and Ser Ryman Frey's Iron Throne army. Rolph's brother-in-law, Gawen, is part of the besieging host, under Daven's command, worried that his family might get hurt if his allies try to take Riverrun by storm.
After the captive Lord Edmure Tully negotiates with his own garrison at Riverrun, he surrenders Riverrun to Ser Jaime Lannister. Sybell tells Jaime of her and her brother's complicity in the death of Robb Stark and explains how she made sure there was no heir from her daughter Jeyne's union with Robb. She tells Jaime that the late Lord Tywin promised lords or heirs as marriage prospects for her sons and daughters, although Ser Raynald Westerling is now presumed deceased. Jaime informs Sybell that her brother Rolph is the new Lord of Castamere and that Tywin indeed promised a bride from Casterly Rock for Raynald. Jeyne and Eleyna are to marry lords or heirs, but Jeyne will not marry until the next year to avoid rumors of any child she would have being Robb Stark's heir. Raynald's promised bride is Joy Hill, the bastard daughter of Gerion Lannister, Tywin's late youngest brother, but Raynald is now gone and possibly dead. Sybell is outraged that her eldest son was set to marry a bastard, though her complaints cease when Jaime makes his contempt for her plain and warns her to stay out of his sight for the remainder of her time at Riverrun. However, Jaime is mistaken and misunderstands his father's arrangement, as Tywin already agreed for Joy Hill to marry one of Lord Walder Frey's natural sons.
Escorted by Ser Forley Prester's force, the Westerlings head back for the Westerlands, where Lord Rolph presumably is. Edmure is also taken with them. Jeyne is still grieving for Robb, and the crown he had made for her has been taken by her mother. She has ripped her finely-made clothes in an act of mourning for Robb and rebellion against her mother.
External Link[]
- Rolph Spicer on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
