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Seeing as a large part of interactions with the Tyrell family are seen through Cersei's narrative, and given that Cersei is somewhat of an unreliable narrator (read: malevolent bitch,) it's hard to get a sense of whether the Tyrells really have malign intentions. Cersei seems to suspect early on that they are trying to usurp the throne, but is there good evidence that this is actually the case? Do we know what the Tyrells' long-term plans are, and why they came to King's Landing?

In the TV series, it's a lot clearer that the Tyrells are manipulative; the interactions between Margaery and Olenna in particular. So my question is directed at the books, where these interactions don't take place and the machinations of House Tyrell are far subtler.

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  • It is actually kind of spelled out, really... it's just like @JustinEthier describes. No mysteries.
    – einpoklum
    Aug 4, 2014 at 18:15

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Well, the Tyrell army comes to King's Landing

along with Tywin's army to save the city from Stannis Baratheon in the Battle of the Blackwater, at the end of ACOK.

Presumably one of the reasons they decided to help is because

the Lannisters agreed to a wedding between Margaery Tyrell and Joffrey, making her queen of the realm. There may have been other guarantees made as well; or perhaps along with the wedding come other expectations of power, for example we know that Mace wants to become hand of the king.

So many Tyrells come to King's Landing in ASOS to attend this event. Some of them, such as Mace and Loras stick around to

assist in governing/ruling the realm (for example, taking up positions on the small council, in the Kingsguard, etc),

while others return to Highgarden afterwards.

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We have no Tyrell POV chapters yet, so everything we know about them comes from second hand reports. While the POV storytelling style does lend itself well to unreliable narrators, a few facts can still be gleaned.

  • The Tyrells are hungry for honor. Among the great houses, theirs is the youngest. Unlike the others, they have never been kings, only stewards to kings. They were raised to their current lofty position by the Targaryens for good service during Aegon I's conquest.

  • The Queen of Thorns reveals to Sansa that it is Lord Mace Tyrell's greatest ambition to be the father of a queen. This is supported by the fact that the Tyrells first sided with Renly Baratheon, marrying Margaery to Renly. When Renly fell, they sided with the Lannisters and betrothed Margaery to Joffrey Baratheon.

  • Once Queen Cersei is out of the way, the Small Council becomes populated with Tyrells and their allies.

  • Though dubious, Ser Dontos Hollard describes the Tyrells as "Lannisters with flowers".

So it's pretty obvious that the Tyrells are attempting to grab as much power as possible by attaching themselves to the Iron Throne through marriage.

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  • It's worth noting that the Tullys were never kings either. They were given the title "Lord Paramount of the Riverlands" by Aegon the conqueror because they supported him during the conquest by rebelling against the Ironborn in control of the riverlands
    – prototypetolyfe
    Aug 6, 2014 at 23:33
  • @prototypetolyfe - That's true. Makes me wonder why they weren't as openly ambitious as the Tyrells. Perhaps from not being nearly as rich, and having a lot of troublesome vassals (The Freys, the centuries long feud between the Brackens and the Blackwoods ... etc).
    – System Down
    Aug 6, 2014 at 23:41
  • A bit late, but neither has the Greyjoys, unless you count Balon's failed attempts.
    – Jaciq
    Apr 17, 2015 at 13:23

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