Qarlton Chelsted

Qarlton Chelsted
Biographical information
Born	In the Crownlands
Died	In King's Landing Burned with wildfire on the orders of Aerys II Targaryen
Political information
Affiliation(s)	House Targaryen
Title(s)	Master of Coin Hand of the King (to Aerys II)
Personal information
Culture	Andal
Religion	Faith of the Seven

"He loved to watch people burn, the way their skin blackened and blistered and melted off their bones. He burned lords he didn't like. He burned Hands who disobeyed him. He burned anyone who was against him. Before long, half the country was against him."

―Jaime Lannister describing the death of Qarlton Chelsted.

Qarlton Chelsted was the Hand of the King late in the reign of King Aerys II Targaryen.

Biography

Background

Lord Qarlton briefly served as Hand of the King during Robert's Rebellion, but was executed with wildfire for disobeying King Aerys.

Game of Thrones: Season 3

While in the baths of Harrenhal with Brienne, Jaime recalls Aerys's fondness for wildfire and his execution of lords and hands with the substance, including Qarlton.

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Jaime recalls Qarlton Chelsted as a craven man up until his defiance of Aerys. He was nicknamed the "mace-and-dagger Hand" because of his sigil.

According to The World of Ice & Fire, Chelsted served as Master of Coin late in the reign of Aerys and was a strong supporter of the king over Rhaegar. When the Great Tourney at Harrenhal took place, it was believed that Rhaegar was secretly funding it as a means to call a Great Council and depose his father, and Qarlton unsuccessfully tried to convince Aerys to forbid the tourney. He later accompanied Aerys to Harrenhal and after Rhaegar won the final joust, Qarlton and Lord Symond Staunton brought the king's suspicions to a boil by claiming that Rhaegar had participated to endear the smallfolk and present himself to the lords as the true heir to Aegon the Conqueror. Rhaegar's crowning of Lyanna Stark as the queen of love and beauty was seen by Qarlton as further proof of the prince's betrayal.

After Jon Connington lost the Battle of the Bells during Robert's Rebellion, he was dismissed as Hand and exiled. Qarlton succeeded him as Hand, and soon noticed the comings and goings of members of the Alchemists' Guild. He eventually discovered that Aerys plotted to burn King's Landing to the ground with wildfire in the event of a rebel victory; he pleaded with the king to abandon this plan. When Aerys refused, Qarlton resigned as Hand, only to be dipped in wildfire and burned alive as punishment (Jaime privately admits that, having always dismissed Chelsted as a sycophant, he admired the man for finding the courage to defy Aerys). He was succeeded as Hand by the king's pyromancer, Rossart.

Appearances

• – "Mad King Aerys - House Baratheon" (mentioned indirectly)
• – "Kissed by Fire" (mentioned indirectly)
• – "The Hand of the King" (illustrated)

External links

• Qarlton Chelsted on A Wiki of Ice and Fire