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This is a question about the show. In the books, some characters are alive that are dead in the show, so the answer would be different.

In S08E04, Queen Daenerys makes a show of granting Storm's End to Gendry, the bastard of King Robert Baratheon. Before she does, she asks if anyone knows who the current Lord of Storm's End is. Nobody knows, and she gives it to Gendry.

Did Queen Daenerys give Gendry something he wouldn't have had otherwise? Or did she just make a big show of pointing out that he was the rightful heir?

Obviously a real Baratheon would inherit before Gendry. Was there an obscure Baratheon that nobody knew about? One that Queen Daenerys supplanted when she made Gendry the Lord of Storm's End?

Do bastards ever inherit property? When no true-born heirs are alive? If so, then as the oldest (possibly the last) bastard child of King Robert, wouldn't Gendry be the rightful heir?

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    Bastards don't inherit titles or properties....much less unacknowledged bastards. Gendry himelf said that he can't be Lord of Storm's End since he's a bastard. That's when Daenerys said no I dub thee Gendry Baratheon, by my queenly powers. If there are no true born heirs, the lands revert to the crown and the Crown may bestow them to someone else, some descendant from female line or legitimise a bastard from male/female line
    – Aegon
    Commented May 16, 2019 at 11:10
  • Sorry Kharo, but how does "anyway" indicate a spoiler...?
    – Edlothiad
    Commented May 16, 2019 at 12:07

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Of all the known members of House Baratheon in the show they are all dead. So that leaves us with whether or not Bastards have rights, well that isn't a clear cut case as GRRM has said before.

What if there are no childen, only grandchildren and great grandchildren. Is precedence or proximity the more important principle? Do bastards have any rights? What about bastards who have been legitimized, do they go in at the end after the trueborn kids, or according to birth order? What about widows? And what about the will of the deceased? Can a lord disinherit one son, and name a younger son as heir? Or even a bastard?

There are no clear cut answers, either in Westeros or in real medieval history. Things were often decided on a case by case basis. A case might set a precedent for later cases... but as often as not, the precedents conflicted as much as the claims.

Westeros, So Spake Martin, The Hornwood inheritance and the Whents

However, Gendry is also an unacknowledged bastard of Robert's so wouldn't really have been in the line of succession and thinks so himself. And in the show bastards appear to have less rights of succession compared to the books, see Ramsay Snow for example.

Daenerys: Gendry. That's right, isn't it?

Gendry: Yes, Your Grace.

Daenerys: You're Robert Baratheon's son. You are aware he took my family's throne and tried to have me murdered?

Gendry: I didn't even know he was my father until after he was dead.

Daenerys: Yes, he's dead. His brothers are too. So who's Lord of Storm's End now?

Gendry: I don't know, Your Grace.

Daenerys: Does anyone? I think you should be Lord of Storm's End.

Gendry: I can't be. I'm a bastard.

Daenerys: No, you are Lord Gendry Baratheon of Storm's End, the lawful son of Robert Baratheon. Because that is what I have made you.

Game of Thrones, Season 8 Episode 4, "The Last of the Starks"

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No

Bastards have no right to inherit property. However if a bastard gets legitimised as the son of the lord, they can infact inherit the property. An example of this is Ramsay Bolton, formerly known as Ramsay Snow, who was legitimised by King Tommen Baratheon on behest of Roose Bolton and became Ramsay Bolton, the rightful heir of his father.

Robert Baratheon however never acknowledged Gendry and did not legitimise him, therefore Gendry had no right to claim Storm's End.

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  • GRRM: "There are no clear cut answers, either in Westeros or in real medieval history. Things were often decided on a case by case basis. A case might set a precedent for later cases... but as often as not, the precedents conflicted as much as the claims." Bastards could have inheritance it isn't clear.
    – TheLethalCarrot ♦
    Commented May 16, 2019 at 11:14
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    @TheLethalCarrot By deciding on Case-to-Case basis, George is presumably referring to Crown making exceptions where needed i.e. Should we give the land to the widow while she lives? A descendant from female line? Legitimise a bastard? E.g. Succession Crisis of House Hornwood. He isn't saying that a bastard can inherit while being a bastard, merely indicating that they might have the taint removed from them if need be. That's my interpretation of the vague answer, judging by what we have seen in the books.
    – Aegon
    Commented May 16, 2019 at 11:29
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    It doesn't have to be the father who legitimizes the bastard. For example, Jon Snow got an offer to be legitimized by Stannis. And wasn't Ramsay's legitimization also backed by another king, the one on King's Landing? Either way, might makes right in Westeros.
    – Annatar
    Commented May 16, 2019 at 13:07

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