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| “ | I do not recognize your authority to dictate what is and is not my concern. You are the Queen Mother. Nothing more! | „ |
| ~ Kevan Lannister to Cersei Lannister. |
| “ | Cersei: The king is my son. Kevan: Aye, and from what I saw of Joffrey, you are as unfit a mother as you are a ruler. |
„ |
| ~ Kevan and Cersei arguing for the realm's regency. |
| “ | I hold no lands, that is true. But I have certain incomes, and chests of coin set aside. My own father forgot none of his children when he died, and Tywin knew how to reward good service. I feed two hundred knights and can double that number if need be. There are freeriders who will follow my banner, and I have the gold to hire sellswords. You would be wise not to take me lightly, Your Grace ... and wiser still not to make of me a foe. | „ |
| ~ Kevan's warning to Cersei. |
Ser Kevan Lannister is a supporting character in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation, Game of Thrones.
He is a knight of House Lannister and the younger brother and right hand man of Lord Tywin Lannister. The second son of Lord Tytos Lannister and Lady Jeyne Marbrand, Kevan is the older brother of Lady Genna, Ser Tygett, and Gerion Lannister. He is married to Dorna Swyft, with whom he has four children: Lancel, the twins Willem and Martyn, and a daughter, Janei.
In the main series, he assisted his brother in fighting Robb Stark's rebel forces of the North and the Riverlands and defeating Stannis Baratheon in the Battle of the Blackwater. Afterwards, he kept working alongside his brother in his great-nephew King Joffrey I Baratheon's small council, as master of laws. Following Joffrey and Tywin's deaths, he helped to restore the king's peace in the Riverlands, and later returned to King's Landing to help his great-nephew King Tommen I Baratheon to rule the Seven Kingdoms on his behalf as Lord Regent Protector of the Realm. Although he is a household knight, Kevan's role as Tywin's most trusted supporter gives him vast political power in the Seven Kingdoms.
In the novels, he was featured in all five books of the story, until his demise, where he serves as the POV character of the fifth book's epilogue. In the TV series, he serves a smaller role and was featured in the first, second, fifth, and sixth seasons of the series.
He was portrayed by the late Ian Gelder.
Biography[]
Kevan Lannister is the second son of Lord Tytos Lannister. He is the younger brother of Lord Tywin Lannister, who is head of House Lannister and Lord of Casterly Rock, and the older brother of Genna Lannister, and the late Tygett and Gerion Lannister. He was born in 244 AC.
Ever since childhood, Kevan was a close confidant and companion for his older brother Tywin, who is believed by Tyrion Lannister to have shaped Kevan into being his follower. Having recognized Tywin's talent and competency since an early age, Kevan always supported his brother's wishes and campaigns. However, this also made him live all his life in Tywin's shadow. Kevan accepted his place in life as a second son overshadowed by his elder, utterly unlike many younger brothers, including Kevan's own younger brothers, Tygett and Gerion, with whom Tywin had stormy relations and who hated living in their elder brother's shadow.
When he was a boy, Kevan was sent by his lord father to Castamere to serve as a page and then squire to Lord Roger Reyne. Kevan, Ser Tywin and Tygett fought in the War of the Ninepenny Kings, during which Kevan was knighted by Lord Reyne. It is unknown how years later Kevan would feel about having to help his brother wipe out House Reyne for its rebellion.
When he was sixteen, Kevan visited the Free Cities on his coming of age tour.
After participating in suppressing the Reyne-Tarbeck Revolt, Kevan was married to Dorna Swyft and had three sons: Lancel, who was squire to King Robert I Baratheon, Willem, Martyn, and one daughter, Janei. Willem was murdered by Lord Rickard Karstark at Riverrun.
Quotes[]
By Kevan[]
| “ | Cersei: You would abandon your king when he needs you most. You would abandon Tommen. Kevan: Tommen has his mother. Aye, and his father too, I think. |
„ |
| ~ Kevan and Cersei. |
| “ | Kevan: I was hanging outlaws and robber knights when you were still shitting in your swaddling clothes. I am not like to go off and face Clegane and Dondarrion by myself, if that is what you fear, ser. Not every Lannister is a fool for glory. Jaime: [in his mind: Why, nuncle, I believe you are talking about me.] Addam Marbrand could deal with these outlaws just as well as you. So could Brax, Banefort, Plumm, any of these others. But none would make a good King's Hand. Kevan: Your sister knows my terms. They have not changed. Tell her that, the next time you are in her bedchamber. |
„ |
| ~ Kevan and Jaime Lannister, the former making it clear he knows about the latter's incestuous relationship with Cersei. |
About Kevan[]
| “ | He knows about the two of us. About Tommen and Myrcella. And Cersei knows he knows. Ser Kevan was a Lannister of Casterly Rock. He could not believe that she would ever do him harm, but... I was wrong about Tyrion, why not about Cersei? When sons were killing fathers, what was there to stop a niece from ordering an uncle slain? An inconvenient uncle, who knows too much. Though perhaps Cersei was hoping that the Hound might do her work for her. If Sandor Clegane cut down Ser Kevan, she would not need to bloody her own hands. And he will, if they should meet. Kevan Lannister had once been a stout man with a sword, but he was no longer young, and the Hound... | „ |
| ~ Thoughts of Jaime Lannister, who feared his sister might have had Uncle Kevan killed. |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- His name, "Kevan", is pronounced like the real-life name "Kevin".
- He subtly jabbed at Cersei and Jaime by implying he knows their secret about Cersei's children.
- After the deaths of their parents, Tytos and Jeyne, and their cousin Joanna, Kevan is one of the only two known people Tywin genuinely loves during A Song of Ice and Fire, along with their sister Genna.
- Kevan is Tywin's best friend and most trusted knight, and the two shared the most private political affairs together, even establishing the major political moves on their own, before calling for Joffrey's small council meetings and pretending to arrange the decisions with the rest of the government.
- Kevan is Tywin's favorite brother, while the relationship between Tywin and his younger brothers, Tygett and Gerion (the latter was Jaime and Tyrion's favorite uncle), was notoriously stormy, although Tywin never hated them and was upset about the former's death and the latter's disappearance and presumed death in the ruins of Valyria. Kevan has been shaped by his older brother to be like him and has followed him since childhood.
- It is unknown whether Tywin has genuine love and affection for other Lannisters, other than just family loyalty, but any of them would have likely established a close relationship with Tywin during childhood, as Tywin growing older became incapable of forming new loving relationships, especially following the death of his wife Joanna. As a result, Tywin loves his siblings Kevan and Genna, while he does not genuinely love his own children, Cersei, Jaime, and Tyrion, despite his genuine attempts towards the first two twin children.
- In the source material A Song of Ice and Fire, only Kevan's second son, Willem, is dead, killed by Rickard Karstark. The other captive who is attacked by the Karstarks is Tion Frey, the third son of Genna and her husband Emmon Frey, and he is the one killed along with Willem. Martyn, who is Willem's twin brother, is never killed by the Karstarks in the novels. Also in the book version, Willem, Martyn, and Tion are not locked in any cell, and they simply reside in guarded residences in Riverrun as captives. Guilt-ridden over Lord Karstark's actions, Robb Stark triples the guard around Martyn at Riverrun, until he successfully arranges a ransom for the boy. Martyn is escorted out of Riverrun back to the Westerlands and exchanged with the captive Robett Glover. Currently, Martyn is alive and well, presumably back at Casterly Rock.
- In the television series Genna Lannister was omitted entirely, along with her own family, and Tion's place is taken by Martyn, and thus in the television series all of Kevan's sons died by the end of Season 6. There is no mention of Kevan's daughter, Janei, in this continuity.
- In the story of the novels, Kevan is outlived by his sons Lancel and Martyn, as he is murdered by Varys in the end of his own POV epilogue chapter in A Dance With Dragons, because Kevan was doing too much of a good job at restoring order and the King's peace in the realm. Varys kills him along with Pycelle to maintain the chaos in the realm, and provoke more fighting, hostilities, fear, and paranoia between the Lannisters and the Tyrells.
- In the story of the television series Game of Thrones, Kevan and Lancel are both murdered by their own family member Cersei on the same day, as she no longer considered them her allies. In the book version, Lancel is still alive and a knight of the Faith Militant.
- In the novels, Kevan's role is more prominent than in the television series after the first two seasons:
- He does not leave King's Landing after helping defeat Stannis. He first serves in King Joffrey's small council as the master of laws and helps Tywin to restore the king's peace. He is also the one who visits Tyrion in a tower cell, when the latter is accused of Joffrey's murder, while in the television series, Jaime replaces Kevan and visits Tyrion in the dungeons.
- After Tywin's murder, Kevan finds his corpse before Cersei does, and later leaves the capital after arguing with Cersei at dinner, as she decides to take the regency for her son King Tommen, despite the fact she is not deemed a fit ruler and the majority of the nobility and smallfolk don't even respect her. Kevan refuses Cersei's offer to name him the next Hand of the King, knowing he would just serve as her puppet for her schemes and follies. After a heated argument between the two, Kevan gives her a warning to make an enemy out of him, Cersei interprets it as a threat and starts fearing her uncle might conspire with the Tyrells and even be Tyrion's accomplice, leading her to name the cousin Ser Daven Lannister the new Warden of the West instead of Kevan, also done to spite the uncle. She also names Ser Damion Lannister her Castellan of Casterly Rock to spite Kevan more, and commands him to lead the army of the Westerlands to support the Freys and the river lords in the second siege of Riverrun, to insult Kevan and not give him any place of high command.
- Kevan spends most of the fourth book back to the Riverlands, first helping his son Lancel, new Lord of Darry to restore peace in the lands, before Lancel upsets him with his decision to return to King's Landing to join the Faith Militant. Afterwards Kevan leads a westermen host to help the Darrys, Freys, Lord Tarly's army of Reachmen and stormlanders to restore peace and order in the Riverlands, still overran by bandits, sieges, and broken men from war, while Jaime and Ser Daven Lannister deal with the second siege of Riverrun. Kevan is finally summoned back by Pycelle to the capital during the fifth's book final parts, to take the regency in Cersei's place until his sudden murder. Before his death, Kevan and Cersei managed to have one final peaceful dinner, after Cersei's walk of atonement, after which she became quiet and developed a great fear of King's Landing's smallfolk after this and a previous riot in the city during the second book.
- In the novels, Kevan serves as the Lord Regent of the Seven Kingdoms until Tommen comes of age, and he gives Mace Tyrell (who is more assertive, serious, and arrogant than his TV counterpart) the title of Hand of the King, replacing regent Cersei's own defected Hand Orton Merryweather. As Kevan is acting in the King's place, Mace is his second ruler, while Randyll Tarly becomes the master of laws, Kevan's father in law Harys Swyft continues serving as the master of coins, and Mace's cousin and Olenna's nephew, Paxter Redwyne is the master of ships. In the television series, Kevan serves as both the Lord Regent and the Hand of the King, from the final episode of Season 5 to Season 6's finale. Kevan's murder in the end of the fifth book, leaves all the political power to the Tyrells and the Faith of the Seven, due to Mace, Randyll, and Paxter having all the control and influence, as well as two armies in the city.
- In both novels and TV series, Kevan's eldest son Lancel served as King Robert's squire. In the novels, Lancel and his cousin Tyrek (Tygett's only son, around four years younger than Lancel) both served as Robert's squires at the same time, and the King enjoyed to bully them.
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