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In S08E04

Gendry became the Lord of the Storm's End.

There was a really strange situation in the hall of Winterfell before that: Daenerys asked if anyone knew who the current Lord was and nobody answered, as if nobody knew. Tyrion, Varys, Sam Tarly, Bran with all his super-powers... they were all there in the room and yet nobody answered.

Did really none of them know the answer? Was there another reason they all kept silent?

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    Bran lives mostly in the past now.
    – Paul D. Waite
    May 15, 2019 at 17:24
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    Do you know what a rhetorical question is? That was one, and so is this.
    – Gaius
    May 15, 2019 at 20:59
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    @Gaius I don't think it was a rhetorical question. She repeated the question more than once, she waited for the answer risking someone would say: "Yeah, the current Lord is this guy.", which would be really embarrassing for the Queen.
    – vojta
    May 16, 2019 at 7:15
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    Realm is in chaos. They don't even all know(or agree) who should be the ruler of all seven kingdoms. Why should they know who rules one of kingdoms right now?
    – user28434
    May 16, 2019 at 9:06
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    @vojta you're a lord of the north, your king just got dominated by a foreign conqueror who claims to own half the planet and she asks who owns a nearby territory. Are you going to be the one to answer?
    – progressiveCavemen
    May 16, 2019 at 13:37

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Well that is because there was no Lord of Storm's End as far as they knew or we know. Nobles grow up learning about other noble families' family trees, particularly their neighbours and great Houses.

Had Daenerys asked that Question after Robert died, they'd have all answered Renly Baratheon. Had she asked that question after Renly died, their answer would have been Stannis Baratheon. Had she asked that after Stannis died (And Shireen had been alive), their answer would have been Shireen Baratheon (Or Lord Stannis' little girl for those who couldn't recall her name).

Yet as it happened, the known Baratheons were all dead at that moment, the real and the feigned ones.

  1. Robert Baratheon (Dead)

    1.1. Joffrey Baratheon (Dead)

    1.2. Tommen Baratheon (Dead)

    1.3. Myrcella Baratheon (Dead)

  2. Stannis Baratheon (Dead)

    2.1. Shireen Baratheon (Dead)

  3. Renly Baratheon (Dead)

Nobody knows any other Baratheon, nor have they heard any news of a Stormlander resurgence after Stannis' demise. So as far as they can guess, Storm's End lacks a lord and so do the Stormlands as a whole. The silence was the answer. Why Bran refused to answer? Well only Bran can tell but if we had to venture a guess I'd say that is because Bran has repeatedly told people that he doesn't really feel or need anything, he's mostly apathetic to whatever is happening around him. Most likely he never heard the question or if he did hear, he just didn't deign to answer it.

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    I think in cases like this the lands default to the crown, so after Stannis died it would have been... Tommen? But he's dead as well, and Daenerys isn't likely to consider that line of succession legitimate anyway. I'd say she's ruler of the Stromlands by right of conquest, really. Either way, it's messy, and I probably wouldn't have bothered to speak up either, since she clearly had something in mind.
    – Geobits
    May 15, 2019 at 17:31
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    @Geobits You're correct in that assumption, if a house goes extinct, the Lands revert to the crown. But Tommen, when he held the Crown, did so as a Baratheon. So officially the house didn't go extinct back then and Tommen legally inherited it as heir of his uncle Stannis (Although I believe he had signed a bill of attainder against Stannis before that). The confusion starts with Cersei. Cersei is no Baratheon. The reason stormlords are so fiercely loyal to Baratheons is because they are not just some upjumped foreigners imposed by Aegon I, they are heirs to ancient Storm Kings
    – Aegon
    May 15, 2019 at 17:34
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    And since no Stormlander appears to be serving Cersei, unlike Ironborn, Reachmen and Westermen - It is safe to say that they did not join Cersei's illegitimate government - And lacking a leader, they are still disorganised.
    – Aegon
    May 15, 2019 at 17:35
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    "The confusion starts with Cersei" - True of so many things
    – Geobits
    May 15, 2019 at 17:38
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    @MichaelW. You are correct that Stannis should have gotten Storm's End and Lord Stannis himself agrees with you :D Robert however chose to give Storm's End to Renly and Dragonstone to Stannis. Stannis always considered himself cheated of his rights. But since the cup passed to Renly, it was him who held Storm's End when Robert died. And no, succession in Westeros is Primogeniture, not Gavelkind. Which means the firstborn gets all the titles, younger children get nothing unless their father gives them something in his life.
    – Aegon
    May 15, 2019 at 23:21

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