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In ASOS Chapter 6, Olenna Tyrell says this to Sansa Stark:

You Starks were kings once, the Arryns and the Lannisters as well, and even the Baratheons through the female line, but the Tyrells were no more than stewards until Aegon the Dragon came along and cooked the rightful King of the Reach on the Field of Fire.

Baratheons are descended from two Royal Dynasties through females:

  1. House Durrandon through Princess Argella of Stormlands
  2. House Targaryen through Princess Rhaelle Targaryen

Which female line is she talking about here? The Targaryen female line or the Durrandon female line? Or is she talking about both?

Since Princess Argella was heir of her father and shortly ruled as Storm Queen before her defeat, I am more inclinded to believe Olenna is talking about Baratheons being heirs of House Durrandon through Argella, who ruled Stormlands for centuries in their own right before the Dragons came. The context also makes me think that way because she was talking about Royalties of Pre-conquest era.

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  • Although I provided as good an answer as one can, the answer doesn't affect the rest of the plot one bit. By Godel's incompleteness theorem, you can choose any one of them, or even both.
    – user65648
    Jul 1, 2016 at 23:54
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    I'd take the ambiguity as a sign that Olena's knowledge of history is practical not academic. She's no maester. She's familiar with the legends of the ancient kings and knows the important detail (that some think her adopted family of stewards less great than other great houses). She understands that the Baratheons' claim to the throne is pretty shaky and depends on marriage and tracing back the female line. Maybe she's got the (in her view, trivial) details of these two important facts slightly muddled. Would seem in character for someone who calls her bodyguards "Left" and "Right".
    – user56reinstatemonica8
    Jul 2, 2016 at 9:07

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I believe it is Argella Durrandon.

I don't think an exact answer can be conjured, but she mentions of ancient times, i.e., before the Targaryen conquest. It is also apparent that every Baratheon that ever lived in Westeros carried the blood of Queen Argella Durrandon.

Rhaelle Targaryen came much later and she was never a queen. She was only a princess.

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