Upon Robert Baratheon's death, his heir apparent, Prince Joffrey Baratheon, takes the Iron Throne. Petyr, from the small House Baelish, ignited the war in order to gain more power for himself. The conflict was orchestrated by Petyr Baelish, the Master of Coin, with the help of Lysa Arryn, who poisoned her husband Jon Arryn, Hand of the King to Robert Baratheon, and sent a letter to her sister Catelyn Stark claiming that it was the Lannisters who had poisoned her husband. The five kings in question were Robert's heir apparent, Joffrey Baratheon, Robert's two younger brothers, Stannis and Renly Baratheon, the ' King in the North' Robb Stark, and the ' King of the Iron Islands' Balon Greyjoy. In essence, the war was a three-way battle for the Iron Throne fought alongside two independence movements. The War of the Five Kings, also known as the War of Five Kings, was a major multi-theater civil war in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros that erupted in the wake of the death of King Robert I.
The Starks fight the Lannisters, the Baratheons fight each other.' ―Daenerys Targaryen to Ser Jorah Mormont
' The Seven Kingdoms are at war with one another.
