Ser Ilyn Payne, a knight of the westerlands, served as captain of the guard to Lord Tywin Lannister during Tywin's tenure as Hand of the King to Aerys II Targaryen. When Ilyn was overheard saying it was Tywin who truly ruled the Seven Kingdoms, the king had his tongue torn out with hot pincers, leaving him able only to rattle and clack. After Robert's Rebellion, King Robert I Baratheon named him the King's Justice — the royal headsman — as a wedding present for Tywin and to compensate Ilyn for the tongue he had lost. A grim, pockmarked, near-bald man who never botched a stroke, Ilyn beheaded Lord Eddard Stark on the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor with Eddard's own greatsword Ice at the command of King Joffrey. He later surrendered Ice to Lord Tywin and received a new blade in its stead, and rode north with Ser Jaime Lannister toward Riverrun, sparring with the maimed knight along the way. He is a cousin to Podrick Payne.
