Corlys Velaryon
The Sea Snake: nine great voyages, a fleet larger than the crown's, and High Tide built from the profits. Lord of Driftmark, wed to the Queen Who Never Was ÔÇö the richest man in Westeros, and the most stubborn about what his blood is owed.
A soul of House Velaryon, born at Driftmark, sworn to The Blacks ÔÇö the Queen's Party.
The fuller tale
Season One
In The Heirs of the Dragon ÔÇö The Sea Snake ÔÇö richest man in the realm, and married to the queen who should have been. The lords of the realm, Corlys and Rhaenys among them, kneel and swear to Rhaenyra Targaryen, first of her name. In The Rogue Prince ÔÇö Twice insulted ÔÇö his daughter refused, his sea ignored. Corlys and Rhaenys offer Viserys their daughter Laena, aged twelve; the king chooses Alicent Hightower instead, and the Sea Snake leaves court cold.
Spurned by the throne, Corlys brings his fleet to Daemon: a war for the Stepstones, fought without the king's leave. In Second of His Name ÔÇö Pays in Velaryon blood for a war the crown disowned. In Driftmark ÔÇö Buries a daughter and holds his tongue about his grandsons' hair. Six years on: Corlys takes a wound in the Stepstones that festers; his brother Vaemond sails to court to claim Driftmark over the 'strong boys.'
In The Black Queen ÔÇö Rises from his sickbed to lay the Velaryon fleet at the black queen's feet.
Where they stand. King's Landing, Driftmark, The Stepstones and Dragonstone.
Season Two
Corlys's blockade closes the Gullet; King's Landing begins to feel the first pinch of hunger. In The Red Dragon and the Gold ÔÇö Waits at the heart of the blockade for a wife who doesn't come home. In Regent ÔÇö Made Rhaenyra's Hand ÔÇö and faced at the docks by his unclaimed blood. On Driftmark, Alyn of Hull ÔÇö the sailor who pulled the Sea Snake from the waves ÔÇö is owed more than wages, and Corlys knows it.
In Smallfolk ÔÇö Watches a bastard son rise on a dragon he never dared acknowledge.
Where they stand. Driftmark and Dragonstone.
How it ends for them
The chronicle records no death for this soul ÔÇö they are living when the tale leaves them, or their ending is a page the maesters have yet to turn.
Their chapters, book by book
Where the page and the screen part
Corlys is one of the few major figures the show and the book keep in close alignment, though the series gives him a specific and painful wound Fire & Blood only implies ÔÇö the death of his son Laenor is handled on screen as a fully staged escape Corlys is complicit in covering up, whereas the book leaves that cover story to Rhaenyra and Daemon's convenience and Corlys's own knowledge of it ambiguous. The show also compresses his nine voyages into backstory and dialogue rather than dramatizing them, where the book treats his career as history in its own right, worth pages of its own before the Dance even begins.
Their journey
Where the two tellings send them to the same place the road runs whole; where they part, the screen keeps the left and the books the right.