Could Gendry become Lord of House Baratheon?

Question

At the end of Season 6, The Northern Houses...

very informally "voted" Jon as the King in the North. It is widely acknowledged that Jon is the bastard of Eddard Stark. Note: I would've thought Jon could not be voted as Warden of the North or Lord of House Stark.

So, with that as precedent, when we look at House Baratheon:

Gendry is widely acknowledged as a bastard of Robert Baratheon. Unlike the Starks, there are no heirs to House Baratheon. Unlike the North, the Lord of the Stormlands are not a warden of anything.

Given all that, is it possible for Robert Baratheon's one openly acknowledged bastard to, upon a vote in the Stormlands, be elevated all the way to being the Lord of House Baratheon? King's Landing didn't sign-off on what happened in the North, but it is fait accompli. Can the Stormlands just do something as such?

Answer 1

Gendry is not an acknowledged bastard of Robert where as Jon was acknowledged by Eddard Stark to be his son. From GOT Wiki page:

Gendry is a bastard son of King Robert Baratheon, but is unacknowledged and unaware of his lineage. Gendry did not receive the bastard surname used in the Crownlands (Waters) because he was not openly acknowledged by Robert.

No one in Stormlands knows who Gendry is except retinue of Stannis Baratheon but

Stannis was also killed with his men.

Everyone in North knew Jon ever since he was an infant. Lord Jon Arryn, Lord Stannis Baratheon and Lord Eddard Stark are the notable people who knew about Gendry but

they are all dead.

Therefore it is unlikely that Gendry will make it to throne of the Storm Kings.

But seeing as D&D

crowned Jon despite him being a bastard while in presence of a trueborn Stark (Sansa)

you can never be sure what they will do next. They did not even bother with Jon issuing an edict of legitimising himself. Cersei will claim Stormlands

as heir of King Tommen Baratheon, be sure of that.

Will the Storm Lords accept this? That is another story. They will most likely side with Daenerys against the Lannisters.

But we have to keep in mind, Gendry has one voice which carries a lot of weight. That voice belongs to Arya Stark of Winterfell. If Arya proclaims Gendry as natural son of Robert and Varys confirms it, there may be a possibility that Daenerys may legitimise Gendry and raise him up as Lord Paramount of Stormlands.

In S08E04, Daenerys actually went through with it and legitimised Gendry as Gendry Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End and Lord Paramount of Stormlands. As it happened, Gendry had become well known at Winterfell thanks to Davos Seaworth's testimony of his parentage so Arya's word wasn't needed at all.

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In books, Robert has one acknowledged bastard by Delena Florent who is named Edric Storm. He was ferried to safety across the narrow sea by Davos Seaworth and his colleagues. Robert's eldest daughter Mya is not acknowledged but whole Vale is witness that she was fathered by Robert.

Answer 2

You might already be clear on this, but just in case: the title “the King in the North” has a pretty specific meaning in Game of Thrones.

The North was an independent kingdom in Westeros that resisted the invasion of the Andals from Essos (about 6,000 years before the events of the TV series), with its own King. It remained so until Aegon Targaryen conquered the rest of Westeros and unified it into the Seven Kingdoms under the Iron Throne (about 300 years before the events of the TV series), and even then it happened peacefully.

The idea of the King in the North thus includes being independent from the Iron Throne; basically seceding from the Seven Kingdoms. (I’ve no idea where Martin gets all these crazy fantasy ideas from.) The North would therefore be pretty much making up its own rules.

As I understand it, if Gendry were to somehow become Lord of whatever is actually left of House Baratheon due to his popularity with people living in the Stormlands, that wouldn’t be the same thing as Rob being declared King in the North, as the Stormlands don’t have quite the same sense of independence and shared identity.

Of course, the Stormlands could collectively decide to try to be independent from the Iron Throne too. Who’s going to stop them?

Answer 3

Davos of House Seaworth might vouch for Gendry as the heir apparent to House Baratheon, seeing that he's witnessed Jon's ascension to King in the North and has befriended Gendry before. As former Hand of the King to Stannis, his word holds influence in the Stormlands. He might even convince Gendry to follow Jon's example and lead the Stormlands against the Lannisters.