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  ====''A Game of Thrones''====
  King Robert has come to Winterfell to appoint his close friend Eddard Stark the Hand of The King, after the untimely death of Jon Arryn. He was unaware that Cersei's three children were in fact fathered by her twin brother Jaime.  More interested in food, drink, and tourneys than in governance, Robert has squandered the royal treasury, leaving the crown heavily in debt.  After a hunting accident orchestrated by Cersei, Robert is mortally wounded and appoints Eddard as the regent for his son Joffrey.  After Robert's death, Eddard loses the political struggle against the Lannisters and is later publicly executed by beheading, and the kingdoms plunge into civil war known as the War of the Five Kings (which encompasses the entirety of the following two books) in which Robert's two brothers Renly and Stannis Baratheon both declare themselves the rightful kings. Eddard's vengeful son Robb and later Balon Greyjoy also secede and declare kingships.