#renly's rainbow guard

[a-song-of-art-and-fire]

The Rainbow Guard of King Renly Baratheon, First of His Name

“Winter will never come for the likes of us. Should we die in battle, they will surely sing of us, and it’s always summer in the songs. In the songs all knights are gallant, all maids are beautiful, and the sun is always shining.” 

Finally, the Rainbow Guard in all their glory. I love how they look with the bright colours capturing Renly's very vibrant court of the south, but do still come across as professional killers outfitted for war.

I'm also really happy with the basing here. They're on the original trays for the war game, which usually leaves quite noticeable rings around each figure, but I've gone for very lush grass and foliage and they blend very nicely while still being removable. I wanted to capture Renly's place as a mix of Reach and Stormlands, so there's some rugged rock and pine, and some glorious flower fields.

[aonehattown]

“Tyrell swords will make me king. Rowan and Tarly and Caron will make me king, with axe and mace and warhammer. Tarth arrows and Penrose lances, Fossoway, Cuy, Mullendore, Estermont, Selmy, Hightower, Oakheart, Crane, Caswell, Blackbar, Morrigen, Beesbury, Shermer, Dunn, Footly ... even House Florent, your own wife's brothers and uncles, they will make me king. All the chivalry of the south rides with me, and that is the least part of my power.” -Renly Baratheon

Tackling Renly and his 7 Rainbow guards is probably the most stressed I’ve ever been painting minis. I really really really wanted to do them justice. They’re described so beautifully in the books and they sadly didn’t get to make it into the show. So I really wanted to get the little details right for my favorite characters.

Maybe they will get a happier ending on my tabletop then they’ve gotten so far in the books.

[rose-tattoos]

I love that Renly’s Kingsguard is called The Rainbow Guard 🏳️‍🌈

[rosaluxembae]

Renly's Rainbow Guard isn't because he's gay in the sense that it's the pride flag but like he did decide that boring white wasn't fabulous enough for sexy fashionista Kingsguard so....

[cynicalclassicist]

More about how Renly is style over substance, the complete contrast to his brother. Yes, he acts like he's the new, a wonderful change, yes, he's charismatic and showy... but he doesn't appreciate the past. His Rainbow Guard isn't like the Kingsguard at all. It's meant to show the hollowness beneath the show of it. There is a reason why the Kingsguard are meant to give up their previous ties. Their oaths are apparently based on those of the Night's Watch.

Are we supposed to see Renly's choices for the Rainbowguard as foolish? True, we don't know if membership translates to life service or celibacy, but two of his seven appointments could cause legitimate succession crises regardless—Bryce Caron is a lord without a legitimate heir, while Brienne is the heir to Tarth and only living child of Selwyn.

I think it’s more that we’re supposed to see the creation of the Rainbow Guard as questionably wise. Yes, Renly appreciates the practicality of an order of bodyguards. He’s got an excellent understanding of imagery.

But he doesn’t appreciate the weight of tradition the Kingsguard brings to bear. He can’t and won’t wait to do things through accepted channels (motivated not because the accepted channels are crappy, but because he wants stuff and attention), and he doesn’t appreciate the plain white of (supposedly) humble service.

It was just the sort of notion that would appeal to Renly Baratheon; a splendid new order of knighthood, with gorgeous new raiment to proclaim it. Even as a boy, Renly had loved bright colors and rich fabrics, and he had loved his games as well. “Look at me!” he would shout as he ran laughing through the halls of Storm’s End. “Look at me, I’m a dragon,” or “Look at me, I’m a wizard,” or “Look at me, look at me, I’m the rain god.”

The bold little boy with wild black hair and laughing eyes was a man grown now, one-and-twenty, and still he played his games. Look at me, I’m a king, Cressen thought sadly.

- Prologue, ACoK

[theotherpacman]

"Beauty, they called her... mocking. The hair beneath the visor was a squirrel's nest of dirty straw, and her face... Brienne's eyes were large and very blue, a young girl's eyes, trusting and guileless, but the rest... her features were broad and coarse, her teeth prominent and crooked, her mouth too wide, her lips so plump they seemed swollen. A thousand freckles speckled her cheeks and brow, and her nose had been broken more than once. Pity filled Catelyn's heart. Is there any creature on earth as unfortunate as an ugly woman?

And yet, when Renly cut away her torn cloak and fastened a rainbow in its place, Brienne of Tarth did not look unfortunate. Her smile lit up her face, and her voice was strong and proud as she said, 'My life for yours, Your Grace. From this day on, I am your shield, I swear it by the old gods and the new.'"

-- A Clash of Kings, George R. R. Martin

Brienne the Blue of King Renly Baratheon's Rainbow Guard, daughter of Lord Selwyn Tarth, the Evenstar

I finally drew my girl Brienne!!!! in the book her armor is all scratched up and shit but I wanted to draw some nice beautiful armor for my girl. hopefully I succeeded in that. character design is heavily informed by that of @swordmaid who does my favorite Brienne <3 (if ur reading this I also love ur Jaime)

[toskarin]

btw they robbed you of renly's kingsguard (the rainbow guard) literally wearing colour coded armour like a sentai team because HBO thought it looked gay

[drawitblargit]

”She heard King Renly declare the Lady Brienne of Tarth the victor of the great melee at Bitterbridge, last mounted of one hundred sixteen knights. “As champion, you may ask of me any boon that you desire, If it lies in my power, it is yours.” “Your Grace,” Brienne answered, “I ask the honor of a place among your Rainbow Guard. I would be one of your seven, and pledge my life to yours, to go where you go, ride at your side, and keep you safe from all hurt and harm.” “Done,” he said. “Rise, and remove your helm.” She did as he bid her. And when the greathelm was lifted, Catelyn understood Ser Colen’s words. Beauty, they called her… mocking. The hair beneath the visor was a squirrel’s nest of dirty straw, and her face… Brienne’s eyes were large and very blue, a young girl’s eyes, trusting and guileless, but the rest… her features were broad and coarse, her teeth prominent and crooked, her mouth too wide, her lips so plump they seemed swollen. A thousand freckles speckled her cheeks and brow, and her nose had been broken more than once. Pity filled Catelyn’s heart. Is there any creature on earth as unfortunate as an ugly woman? And yet, when Renly cut away her torn cloak and fastened a rainbow in its place, Brienne of Tarth did not look unfortunate. Her smile lit up her face, and her voice was strong and proud as she said, “my life for yours, Your Grace. From this day on, I am your shield, I swear it by the old gods and the new.”

—A Clash of Kings, Catelyn II

[zetaaa]

Fine, I'm going nowhere with this, so here they are, the knights children of summer, Renly's seven or whatever. Not satisfied with Loras, but... Renly x Loras forever!!! 💔(Please GRRM be kind with Loras and my baby Brienne)

Once upon a time, in a fortress by the sea...

[crowns-of-violets-and-roses]

The funniest thing about the Rainbow Guard was that when Martin was asked about it he confirmed Renly and Loras were gay but said the Rainbow Guard was just coincidence

[hell-heron]

A little early canon detail that went nowhere is how Barristan and Renly really seemed to have a cute little rapport (that banter with Sansa - Renly kept a cloak aside for Barristan in his rainbow guard - when Renly thinks Barristan deserted to Stannis he asks for him to be taken alive)... What's that tweet being in the King's council will have you be besties with a 62 years old...

[jeyneofpoole]

george can be so bizarrely oblivious it fascinates me. i think about "renly having a rainbow guard wasn't a reference to him being gay that didnt even occur to me" like once a week. grrm i need to study your brain under a microscope

he dressed renlys squad like baby gays going to their first pride and we were really not supposed to suspect anything. germ has neuroses that have been hitherto unseen. and he’s my best friend.

[mormontdacey]

not sure atp if davos is just dogging on the rainbow guard, but obsessed with the idea of renly carefully selecting a color for each new recruit based on their personality. like i made the green staples binder my science one. bryce caron is obnoxious so he gets orange, brienne has blue eyes so she’s brienne the blue, and then loras gets lavender for some reason….

[frazzledsoul]

There's a certain story that I think is told in Game of Thrones with Brienne and the way Gwendoline Christie plays her that is impossible in the books, when Brienne still has a title and a possible marriage prospect waiting for her. It's the kind of story that can only be told with Brienne as Gwendoline Christie, a woman in her late thirties at the time, embodying her, and with the absence of any detailed backstory. The story is that of a woman who was unable to live up to the highborn expectations of her, who spent much of her youth looking for any possible role that she could find in this medieval society, and finally found it in Renly and his rainbow guard. He's closed off to her, romantic love is forever closed off to her, but she's an honored member of his retinue and that is close enough. Then she finds a cause to serve in Catelyn and Sansa, and a kinship with Jaime through their trials, and she grows to love him, even though she knows all the while they're on different sides and he should choose her side.

Then he seems to defect, gifts her the knighthood she has never quite had, fights with her on the battlefield, and seems to choose her over Cersei. That elusive promise of romantic love is finally hers, even if it's not something that has defined her for most of her life. He doesn't choose her, even though he knows he should...he chooses self-destruction, to die by Cersei's side, because he never quite believed he was capable of more. Brienne is hurt, but it doesn't break her...because this is Brienne as embodied by Gwendoline, who has found her life's destiny....and it's not Jaime. She's a knight, first and foremost, and Jaime did give that to her, and she will serve the Starks, will write his name in honor, will not hate a doomed man. Maybe he was her last chance at a conventional life in that society (love, marriage, children) but she was not made for a conventional life, and she'll appreciate the life she does have, one that isn't centered around a husband.

I think this interpretation is why Gwendoline defended Brienne's ending so fiercely, and sought joy in it. I think if you're of a certain age and your life hasn't ended up the way you or other people thought it would, it does resonate with you, but it's a story that doesn't quite work for a twenty-year-old Brienne. As a shipper, I understand why people hate it, but I don't think it's entirely a sad ending for Brienne as she is written in the show, even if I wanted Brienne and Jaime together instead.

And we'll always have that brief glance of the Braime wedding dress anyway, if nothing else.

[rosaluxembae]

Renly's my favourite king. He's just so refreshingly honest, who gives a fuck about claims, they're all usurpers anyway. And he's right, he would be the best king. Characters dunk on him for thinking that dressing pretty and being charismatic and making political alliances makes him a good but but that's what being a king *is*. Stannis would bleed the realm and his religious intolerance would be a barrier to peace and stability. Joffrey is cruel and stupid and cause constant disorder.

He's untested in battle but so was Robb and of all his problems, winning battles wasn't one. If he's not a great commander he can just let Randyll Tarly make his decisions, a good king knows how to delegate effectively. Besides, just look at Robert to see what happens when you stick a meathead warrior with no interest in ruling on the throne.

Is it worth starting a war over? Maybe not but what you gonna do? He *technically* declared before Stannis but everyone knew Stannis was going to. There's already a success crisis so why pick one of those monsters to rule when you can do a better job yourself?

Renly did one (1) thing wrong and that's not accepting Robb's alliance. Let him have the North and Riverlands, it's all snow and wolf shit anyway, who's arsed? And as a wise man once said, 5 outta 7 ain't bad (or is that 7 outta 9 ain't bad?) It doesn't matter in the end anyway but Stannis used magic like a cheaty cheater.

Also we stan a gay king king and the Rainbow Guard is extremely aesthetic.

Aegon would be good too I guess.