House Tyrell of Highgarden is one of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms, overlords over the Reach. A large, wealthy house, its wealth is only surpassed among the Great Houses by House Lannister, and the Tyrells can field the greatest armies. Additionally, if they call the fleets of their bannermen the Redwynes, the lords of the Shield Islands, and the coastal lords, they can command a navy that equals if not surpasses the royal fleet.
Highgarden is an ancient seat of rule and the heart of chivalry in the Seven Kingdoms; the Tyrells style themselves 'Defenders of the Marches' and 'High Marshals of the Reach', and traditionally, they have been Wardens of the South. Their sigil is a golden rose on a green field, and their words are "Growing Strong." Members of the family tend to have curly brown hair and brown or golden eyes.
The house was driven extinct in the male line and exiled following their defeat alongside the Baratheons in the Ascent of the Lion, and House Hightower has since succeeded them as overlords of the Reach.
Prior to the First Era
House Tyrell has shared an exceptionally close relationship with the royal House Baratheon since the time of King Davos Baratheon, who restored the Faith of the Seven to Westeros after several years of domination by the religion of R'hllor. While several of the major and minor houses did not take sides in the bloody conflict, House Tyrell was the first to stand alongside the Baratheons and won the war almost by the strength of their two armies alone. House Tyrell has enjoyed royal favour ever since.
Just prior to the first era, the house came under the rule of Luthor Tyrell, whose skill at ruling was middling at best. He fathered two sons, one of whom, Baelor, would grow up to be a worthy successor to the Reach. Th two boys were best friends growing up, and were close friends of King Renly's two sons Harys and Joseph as well. Baelor would be a lifelong close friend of the future king Harys and one of his staunchest allies.
Aged 19, Baelor was wed to Alysanne Redwyne who bore him seven children over the course of their marriage. She first gave birth to twins Garth and Olyvar. Garth was trained to be his father's heir while Olyvar was encouraged to become a maester from an early age to avoid any succession squabbles. His third son Troy was born as Luthor grew deathly ill. Luthor would live just long enough to see the birth of Baelor's first daughter Maude before passing away, and baelor ascended to the Lordship Of Highgarden at age 22. He and Alysanne would have three more children over the coming years, Benjen, Meredyth, and Mellara, before Alysanne's sad passing. Baelor also fathered a bastard, Aurane Flowers, who he acknowledged. At some other point over the years, his eldest son Garth tragically died, making his next eldest Troy the heir to Highgarden.
Baelor successful rule due to his shrewd business dealings with various houses and the Free Cities brought an economic boom to the Reach, and he was a popular ruler among his banner men. A staunch supporter of the Baratheons and a skilled warrior himself, Baelor would command royal forces alongside his close friend King Harys to combat the rebellious House Bolton and later the iron born. He also rooted out treasonous lords who were plotting against the throne and saw that the King's Justice was done before a rebellion even started.
The Tyrells carried a significant court presence in King's Landing, with Baelor a close advisor to the king. His two daughters Maude and Mellara were raised as ladies in the capital and were the subject of many suitors (though gossip persisted that Maude and her brother Troy were involved in an incestuous relationship). Baelor's second daughter Meredyth was raised from the age of eleven by House Tarly of Horn Hill, where she grew to practically rule the House and was probably expected to wed the house's future lord. His son Olyvar grew up to earn his maester's chain and was assigned to his family's court in Highgarden, where he served loyally and excellently.
First Era
At the start of the first era, Lord Baelor attended a great feast in King's Landing with his daughters to celebrate the start of the new year along with his king. At this time, Harys had become enamoured with Baelor's daughter Maude and began to court her as his new bride, increasing tensions with House Martell and their Dornish bannermen who saw his choice as an insult (as his first wife was the now deceased Gianna of Dorne, sister of the ruling Prince Aryyn. Several weeks later, Maude mysteriously disappeared from her apartments in the Red Keep, and the castle was thrown into chaos with the search. An enraged Lord Baelor was certain that Lord Gylen Hightower was responsible, perpetuating the feud between their two houses, and most of the members of court agreed. A slighted Harys called for all of his forces to march on Oldtown and retrieve Maude at the insistence of his mater of whispers, despite no concrete evidence Maude was even in Oldtown. Baelor marched alongside his king, bringing Mellara with him, and being joined by Troy and Benjen on the road.
Troy Tyrell accompanied the King into the city to speak with Lord Gylen Hightower, adnt hey discovered that he had purchased the Golden Company, angering Harys, though they could find no evidence of wrongdoing or of Maude's presence. A frustrated Troy broke guest right during the meeting by laying hands on the lord and throwing him against a wall, forcing the party to leave the city at Hightower's demand. Harys, infuriated with Troy's interference that prevented them from finding Maude, ordered his Kingsguard knight Thaddius Lannister to escort Troy and his siblings back to Highgarden to prevent further screwups.
Soon after, both Harys and Baelor were stunned to learn that the capital had been sacked while their forces were in the south, and that a Lannister now sat the Iron Throne. Harys immediately turned his forces back from Oldtown to march on King's Landing and reclaim his seat while marshalling the Tyrell banners along the way. Baelor stood by the Baratheons despite the danger that Maude was in as a captive, and the danger that three of his other children were being escorted by a Lannister knight. Marching back to Highgarden to marshal his levies, they were swiftly followed by the forces of Gylen Hightower.
On the road back to Highgarden, Thaddius betrayed his king, taking his captives hostage to offer to King Aerion in King's Landing. For amusement, he forced Troy and Benjen to fight each other to the death, and Troy sorrowfully beheaded his brother as Mellara looked on in horror. Taking Troy and Mellara in chains with Benjen's head in a sack on Troy's lap to torment him, Thaddius marched them to King's Landing.
After Baelor had called his banners and began marching with the Baratheon forces back up the rose road, Gylen swiftly arrived after they left and promptly sacked Highgarden with the aid of Golden Company forces disguised as Tyrell forces. The castle was torn apart stone by stone and nearly burned to the ground in the sack, and most of the populace put to the sword. Maester Olyvar was spared, though, and following the vows of his order served the new lord of Highgarden Robert Manderly despite his horror at the destruction engulfing his home and House.
With Troy and Mellara now captives in King's Landing along with Maude, who had been returned to the city under guard, Baelor arrived with the Baratheon army some time after his keep had been sacked. Fighting alongside the last loyalist force in the battle of the Kingswood, King Harys was slain by the usurper Damon Lannister while Baelor was among those taken captive. The defeat in the Kingswood brought an end to the war and signalled the coming end of the Tyrell family.
Second Era
After the war's end, the captive Baelor and his last son and heir Troy were executed by the king's justice, effectively bringing the male line of House Tyrell to extinction. Maude was forcefully betrothed to Robert Manderly to secure his claim was the newly appointed Lord of Highgarden, though she committed suicide soon after while still a captive in the Red Keep. Meredyth, kept out of danger from the war while at Horn Hill, was escorted back to Highgarden and wed to Manderly in her sister's place, while Mellara was kept as Robert's ward in the same castle. Maester Olyvar continued to serve the man who helped devastate his family but assisted his sisters in surviving the next few years. The only other known survivor of the house's downfall was Baelor's bastard, Aurane Flowers, who is now in hiding.