Brotherhood Without Banners
The Brotherhood Without Banners is an outlaw band that roams the war-torn Riverlands, styling itself the protector of the smallfolk against the marauding armies and brigands that plague the region during the War of the Five Kings. They fly no House banner and serve no lord, taking their name from this very fact -- they fight, they say, for the realm and the common people rather than for any king.
The brotherhood was born of a doomed errand. Before the war, King Robert Baratheon sent a company of men under Beric Dondarrion, with Thoros of Myr among them, to bring the outlaw knight Gregor Clegane to justice for raiding the riverlands. The company was ambushed and scattered, and from its survivors -- and the smallfolk they took up with -- the Brotherhood grew.
History
As the great Houses tore the riverlands apart, the Brotherhood waged a guerrilla war against the foragers and reavers of both the Lannisters and other forces, ambushing them, freeing prisoners, and dispensing rough justice. They came to revere the Lord of Light, R'hllor, through Thoros of Myr, a red priest whose faith took on terrible new power amid the carnage.
Their leader Beric Dondarrion is said to have been slain many times over, only to be raised again from death by Thoros through the fire-god's power -- each resurrection leaving him more wraithlike, more devoted to the cause, and less the man he was.
Notable Members
- Beric Dondarrion, the Lightning Lord, their undying captain
- Thoros of Myr, the red priest who returns him to life
- Anguy, a deadly archer of the Dornish Marches
- Lem Lemoncloak and other hardened outlaws
Significance
The Brotherhood Without Banners represents a third way amid the war of kings -- a force loyal to no throne but to the suffering people of the land. Their capture of various travelers, including Arya Stark and the Hound, entangles them in the larger game, and the dark mystery of Beric's repeated resurrections hints at powers older and stranger than the wars of lords.