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Dragonstone is an island very close to King's Landing and used to be the home of major Houses (originally Targaryen, then Baratheon). So, why didn't Cersei or the King seize the castle and man it with their army after Stannis left?

That would have been a great tactical move for taking control over Dragonstone.

It was finally Daenerys who lands at Dragonstone and claims her ancestral home.

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  • "That would have been a great tactical move for taking control over Dragonstone." Sure, but why is taking control over Dragonstone a great tactical move? What are you expecting them to do with it afterwards? There are no additional points for holding lands, especially if you're spreading out what soldiers you have to do it.
    – Anthony Grist
    Jul 20, 2017 at 10:17
  • my suggest stop expecting from show the explanations like book have every thing. It makes no sense of leaving the castle empty but unlike book most of tyrells/freys died in show. Its like Cersei can't grant it to anyone , stannis moved with all his man in show to north. Now, show has moved to extent there lot of such things will happen
    – Panther
    Jul 21, 2017 at 6:07
  • Related: scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/164253/…
    – Federico Poloni
    Jul 22, 2017 at 12:23

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Because the seven kingdoms are in a constant state of regicide and war. No one is in charge long enough or has enough people to spare on a insignificant island that can't be farmed, has no natural resources, has no gold, and can be ignored over King's Landing. With King's Landing fairly self sufficient even in a siege, controlling the bay does not mean as much as it used to. The only benefit to Dragonstone is its control of the Bay but if no one needs to bring in supplies via sea, that's useless.

Previously it was ruled by Stannis, but after Robert was killed and the Lannister coup forced the war of the five kings, Stannis left it to try to take his slightly more rightful claim to the throne. No one saw the use of Dragonglass, so Dragonstone was not seen as particularly important.

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  • Specially if you consider the "Winter is Coming" premise from the start of the show. Everybody starts being more conservative with their resources.
    – LeonX
    Jul 20, 2017 at 13:27
  • That makes sense for all the soldiers and whatnot, but what of all the peasants and ancillary staff? Surely they didn't all leave with Stannis, did they?
    – user25738
    Jul 20, 2017 at 14:12
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    Just to add to this: Dragonstone isn't known to be a 'comfortable' castle. There are a few instances in the books where Stannis complains about the castle being old, drafty, and damp; which is one of the many reasons he tries to stay away from it as long as possible.
    – onewho
    Jul 20, 2017 at 14:40
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    But where would the population of Dragonstone have fled ?
    – Liquid Same
    Jul 20, 2017 at 14:51
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    @LiquidSame that's made unclear in the show, though it's likely Stannis brought his castle staff and guard with him up North (again, note the Castle is on an island, so the population you're talking about are only those living within the castle walls, the Crownlands, the area the castle rules over is still occupied)... However in the book Stannis leaves behind a skeleton guard and doesn't leave the castle completely unoccupied, which leads to different events in the book.
    – onewho
    Jul 20, 2017 at 15:01

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