In season 2 of Game of Thrones: Kingsroad, you get to pick one of three houses to duke it out against others. The houses in question are Florent, Tarly, and Rowan. Let's take a look at the tales these houses spun both in the original lore and the game.

Florent Backed the Wrong Horse

Thousands of years ago in the original Game of Thrones television series, a chap named Garth Greenhand ruled the Reach. Legend has it that the fellow taught humanity how to farm in the first place. People learned everything from sowing seeds to growing and harvesting crops from him. Stories even say that farms and orchards popped up everywhere Garth Greenhand walked.

Garth Greenhand didn't just paint the land green; the character also made life flourish. A mere touch could apparently help elderly crones and infertile women bear children alike. Furthermore, women who shared romance with the figure reportedly all gave birth to mighty sons and beautiful daughters. Among them, the smartest one known as Falia Flowers bore a son who founded House Florent.

As a side note, Florent and Tyrell remain bitter rivals despite their territories sitting right next to each other as neighbors. The roots of this conflict stretch all the way back to the days of Aegon's Conquest. Back then, House Gardener, which ruled the Reach, went extinct, and Tyrell stepped into the vacant Lord Paramount of the Reach position. Florent argued that the house was the true direct bloodline of House Gardener and demanded the right to rule, but Aegon I simply brushed the claim aside.

Even afterward, Florent kept boasting superiority over the upstart Tyrell by flaunting bloodlines. The relationship between these two houses carries over into the original television series as well. During the War of the Five Kings, Florent backed Renly Baratheon, but after the leader bit the dust, the house switched sides to Stannis Baratheon, who leaned heavily on legitimacy. The fact that the wife Selyse Florent belonged to the house played quite a part in that decision.

On the flip side, Tyrell moved swiftly to cozy up to Lannister. Following that, Stannis Baratheon suffered a devastating defeat at the Battle of Blackwater, making the fortunes of the two houses contrast sharply. Smelling victory, the Iron Throne stripped House Florent of all rights and handed the ancestral seat of Brightwater Keep over to Tyrell.

Faced with losing the entire estate, the head of House Florent, Alester Florent, cooked up an extreme secret pact. The plan involved marrying Stannis's daughter to Tommen Baratheon and making Stannis give up the claim to the throne. The character tried to win back house rights in exchange, but Stannis caught wind of it, sending the scheme up in smoke.

What follows after that connects directly to the situations you encounter in the game. Colin Florent, the brother of the head, currently administers the territory instead, but the area will soon have to be handed over to House Tyrell. To make matters worse, local residents are losing their minds and wandering around with strange symptoms, causing quite a headache. The protagonist runs around in all directions to sort this out in Brightwater Keep of the Reach.

Just so you know, the person who received Brightwater Keep as a grant is Russell Blackbar. That's indeed the same individual whose life you saved by stopping a poisoning at the banquet hall. However, in the original novels, a different person ascends as the new lord of Brightwater Keep. If you are curious, take this chance to read the books as well.

House Tarly, the Traditional Warrior Clan

Tarly traces its lineage back to the aforementioned Garth Greenhand's offspring, Hunter Harlon and Horn Hunter. As a marcher lord house defending the border region against Dorne, the house built a solid reputation over generations by producing exceptional warriors. The ancestral seat of Horn Hill sits nestled in the mountain ranges wrapping around the south of Highgarden and the northeast of Oldtown.

The current head of the house is Randyll Tarly. Back during Robert's Rebellion, Randyll Tarly famously served as the general who handed Robert Baratheon his only defeat. The commander also piled up remarkable military achievements, such as winning the Battle of Duskendale during the War of the Five Kings. Kevan Lannister, the brother of Tywin Lannister, even recommended the figure as a candidate for Hand of the King.

However, due to an extreme pride in being a warrior clan, the head is well-known as a terrible parent. The father expected the eldest son to bravely inherit the position. Contrary to expectations, though, the boy grew up preferring books and art over swords and brute force. Deeply disappointed, the parent threatened and banished the eldest son to the Night's Watch. The eldest son in this anecdote is none other than Samwell Tarly, Jon Snow's ally. Throughout the entire history of Westeros, a case where the eldest son of a prestigious noble house gets stripped of inheritance rights and packed off to the Wall remains exceptionally rare.

Even after Samwell Tarly joined the Night's Watch, the father's ruthless attitude didn't change a bit. When Samwell Tarly later visited the ancestral home, there was no warm welcome; instead, the insults continued to the point where the son couldn't even comfortably swallow a piece of bread at the dinner table. Once the father found out that the companion Gilly came from wildling stock beyond the Wall, the parent flew into a rage and declared a complete disownment. This served as the catalyst for Samwell Tarly to swipe Heartsbane, the Valyrian steel ancestral sword of the house, and run away.

As a side note, critics argue that Randyll Tarly's subsequent actions depicted in the original television series didn't really match the warrior's pride the character always preached. Swayed by Lannister's promise of the Lord Paramount of the Reach seat, the commander betrayed the long-time liege House Tyrell and then crumbled helplessly in a subsequent battle. In the end, the character got captured as a prisoner alongside the second son Dickon Tarly and met the final end in Drogon's flames.

Faintly Resentful and Obscure Rowan

Rowan also counts Rowan Goldentree, a child of Garth Greenhand, as the founder. With Goldengrove as the territory, the house manages most of the northern border of the Reach.

The head of the house is Mathis Rowan. Although the character pops up consistently from Robert's Rebellion onward, the achievements never really stood out all that much. Even so, the story paints the figure as capable and well-liked, to the point of being considered a solid fit for Hand of the King after Tywin Lannister kicked the bucket. Naturally, the character didn't land the Hand position because it didn't suit Cersei Lannister's tastes. The figure still stays active by participating in the Siege of Storm's End, though it never quite leaves a massive footprint in history.