#another member is joncon

[imjustapoorwayfaringgeek]

Love your art it’s so soft and fluffy. Have you ever drawn Cersei?

Here uwu

i still like the colors of the last one even though it's not the rendered(???is that what rendering is??) version

LOTS OF FLUFFY GOLDEN HAIIIRR!!!!1

[turtle-paced]

Do you think there is signifance in the fact we have three characters called Jon (who are connected to some degree). Like Jon Snow is named after Jon Arryn, okay, makes sense. But why did George name another character Jon, who also happens to be in love with Rhaegar and raising his (presumed) son and Jon Snow will also happen be revealed to be Rhaegars son; is that supposed to be something? Will JonCon meet Jon and suspect ~things ~vibes? hahah idk

I personally don't think there's anything deeper to it than the fact it's realistic for multiple people to share the same name. Especially in a setting where naming children after family members or social superiors is very much a thing.

[samwpmarleau]

1) It doesn’t fit with GRRM’s track record to introduce something as monumental as this, let alone so late in the game, and have it be what it says on the tin. For Aegon to actually be Elia and Rhaegar’s son who miraculously appears at the 11th hour to save the day doesn’t fit at all. Also, unfortunately, GRRM’s presentation of his characters of color is absolutely abysmal. While he debunked the theory of Dany blowing up the Water Gardens (THANK GOD), that doesn’t mean he’s going to magically treat Dorne how it deserves to be treated. A lot of the “evidence” I’ve seen about Aegon being real hinges on GRRM actually doing right by his characters of color and their associated storylines, which is … not likely.

2) The Golden Company was founded by Bittersteel, the #1 Blackfyre supporter who kept trying to make the Blackfyre cause succeed even long after Daemon was dead. The GC has been faithfully pro-Blackfyre ever since, and was even led by a Blackfyre, Maelys, in the Fifth Rebellion as well, which was not all that long ago.

3) The GC has never broken a contract before — in fact, their words have been “as good as gold” since the very beginning when Bittersteel founded it — so why would they now? They would only break a contract for blood (“some contracts are writ in ink, and some in blood”), for a Blackfyre. They broke the contract so they can help put Aegon on the throne and finally complete what Daemon and Bittersteel began.

4) The GC met with Viserys and Dany and laughed them out of the room. Why would they then be all gung-ho for a different Targaryen? Viserys wasn’t even a madman or pathetic when he met with them (Dany was still “a little girl”), Robert had only recently gotten the throne and therefore it was at its most vulnerable, and Viserys was well-known in Westeros as the Targaryen heir. If they were going to support a Targaryen, it would have been Viserys. Or Daenerys. Yet they didn’t. So why support Viserys’s alleged nephew instead? They would only do so because the Targaryen was only nominally one, in reality a Blackfyre.

5) Illyrio specifically says the Blackfyres are extinct in the male line, meaning they are still around, only through the female line, such as Illyrio’s late wife Serra. Aegon being Illyrio and Serra’s son would explain Illyrio’s fondness for the boy, why he’s so sad to see him go, and why he’s so invested in putting a “Targaryen” on the throne. Additionally, he found Serra as a sex slave in a Lysene brothel — quite a long ways down from the favored son of a Targaryen king. It would make sense for Illyrio, who loved her deeply, to in her memory restore what was “stolen” from her family.

6) Illyrio has a trunk full of children’s clothes, despite the fact that he’s supposed to be childless. Good clothes, too. (Those clothes are also blue, the color Aegon dyes his hair. Maybe a coincidence, maybe not.)

7) JonCon notes that Rhaegar’s eyes were “a deep purple, darker than this boy’s,” implying to us the reader that Aegon is not Rhaegar’s. It’s also a hint that JonCon has suspicions that Aegon is not the real deal but is in denial, because if Aegon isn’t real, then that means Rhaegar really is lost to him forever and he can do nothing to avenge him.

8) I’ve seen the argument for “sun’s son” being Aegon but it doesn’t make sense. Asha is called the kraken’s daughter, for one, despite being a Greyjoy in her own right, so yes, it tracks that Quentyn can be called the “sun’s son” despite being a “sun” himself (and it just has better rhythm). Plus, if he weren’t the “sun’s son,” how would he instead be the “mummer’s dragon”? He’s not a dragon, he’s not a fake, nor is he being controlled by a mummer, whereas that fits for Aegon. And in Dany’s HOTU vision, there’s a cloth dragon swaying on poles above a cheering crowd — how would Quentyn fit that either (especially since he’s dead)? But Aegon would. This is also in the same passage as “slayer of lies,” mind you. Aegon is the lie to be slain. The other people in the prophecy are pretty clear as to their identities, so why would “sun’s sun” and “mummer’s dragon” be riddles?

9) The Blackfyres and their rebellions have been developed more and more through the years, including an entire Dunk and Egg book about the second one. Would be a bit odd to completely drop that thread, no? The Third Rebellion didn’t even happen until late in Aerys I’s reign, so it’s not like the Blackfyres will play a central role any time soon in D&E. In the main series, however, they would. Plus, GRRM wrote the D&E book about the Second Rebellion while he was also writing ADWD, and it’s in ADWD that history lessons about the Blackfyres are repeatedly brought up.

10) The parallel between Aegon and Jon. Jon is a real secret Targaryen raised without knowing his true identity, whereas Aegon is a fake secret Targaryen raised without knowing his true identity.

11) There’s plenty of the “human heart in conflict with itself” that GRRM loves with him being fake. Dany gets another family member, the son of her beloved brother Rhaegar — only to find out Aegon’s a fake. JonCon raises a child for over a decade, the son of his beloved Rhaegar, redemption for losing at Stoney Sept — only to find out Aegon’s a fake. Dorne (Doran specifically) gets a piece of their beloved Elia back — only to find out Aegon’s a fake. Aegon himself has believed his whole life that he’s Elia and Rhaegar’s son, the heir to the throne, has gone through many hardships to get where he is — only to find out he’s been lied to since day one. Those are all very real, very poignant beats.

12a) The supposition that Elia would save her son but not her daughter — Dornish Elia, who would value her daughter just as much as her son — is nonsensical to me. I CANNOT get behind that one bit. Maybe I can justify Elia being willing to sacrifice someone else’s innocent baby if it meant saving her own (though that’s a horrible and heartless thing to do), but I CANNOT see a justification for her saving Aegon yet not Rhaenys. 

Moreover, if the baby weren’t Aegon, why would Elia be so willing to die for it? If it weren’t hers, if she had been pragmatic/cold enough to trade her baby for someone else’s, why on EARTH would she not have left that baby in the nursery and gone with Rhaenys, her actual child? The men Tywin sent had a reputation even back then and had scaled the walls of Maegor’s Holdfast. Elia would be dumb as a bag of bricks to think they would spare “her” son and Rhaenys, or possibly even herself. If they were to magically spare “Aegon,” great! Everyone’s happy (except Tywin). But why would Elia take that risk? No. She would only tell Rhaenys to run away yet stay with Aegon because he was her child and she had no other choice.

12b) If Elia switched the babies, then why don’t the Martells know anything about it? They were involved in a Targaryen restoration, Oberyn even went to Essos to sign the betrothal pact between Arianne and Viserys. Yet none of them know that their nephew is alive? If Elia really did take the pains to switch the babies for her son’s safety, why would she not have involved her family? At the very least, by having whoever she sent Aegon with even just hint to her family that he’s alive? But they know nothing. Zilch. They put their eggs in Viserys’s basket, then Dany’s, who are at best Elia-adjacent.

12c) Who would even be able to do such a thing as switch out the babies without a soul being the wiser? Varys, probably, but there is no way in hell Elia would entrust her son to him. Far beyond simply being a shady person in general who is out for himself and himself alone, he was the one who purposefully whispered in Aerys’s ear about invented conspiracies and betrayals. He made Aerys more paranoid, more dangerous. To the detriment of Rhaegar, Elia, their children, and the realm at large. Varys is the entire reason Aerys went to the Tourney at Harrenhal in the first place, because he convinced him that Rhaegar convened the tourney to meet with a bunch of lords in order to depose Aerys. Varys directly and gleefully contributed to Aerys’s further descent into tyranny.

Elia wouldn’t have trusted Varys as far as she could throw him, certainly not with something as precious as her child, not even if she were desperate. Even if she did trust him for some insane reason, how is Varys so powerful as to find a lookalike for Aegon but not for Rhaenys? Surely it’s easier to find a black-haired, brown-eyed toddler than a silver-haired, purple-eyed baby, no? Or why couldn’t he direct Elia to one of the many secret passageways so she could escape with the kids rather than this convoluted baby swap? Or any number of other things? At every turn, Aegon (but not Rhaenys!) being spirited away by anyone, most especially Varys, doesn’t hold up. Hell, why would Varys help Elia? What does he have to gain by not only helping her but egregiously undermining Aerys? Aerys whose ear he’s been meticulously whispering into, Aerys who’s the only reason Varys is at court and has power at all? Agreeing to and orchestrating the baby swap runs counter to everything we know about him.

13) Aegon being real means Elia and Dorne are essentially dealt two blows. We and they spend all this time believing her son was brutally murdered in King’s Landing. But then, psych! He’s actually alive! They get their hopes up, the wound is opened all over again, only for him to … be brutally murdered in King’s Landing. (Or possibly elsewhere, but likely KL.) Why is that better? What would be the point of Aegon being Elia and Rhaegar’s son if he’s just going to die like his “cover story” says he did? Actually, they’d be dealt three blows, really, given that Quentyn died as well in the pursuit of Targaryen restoration. Things are going to be painful enough without having Aegon be the real Aegon.

14) JonCon didn’t come to be Aegon’s caretaker until Aegon was 5. In other words, he wouldn’t recognize whether or not this Aegon is the one he saw as a baby. But because he’s so personally invested in Aegon being the real deal, he doesn’t question it too much. The result is that JonCon, who is well-known to have been close to Rhaegar and thus Elia (proximally, not emotionally of course, what with him hating her and all), him caring for the boy lends viability to the story. Which we see in action by Doran believing, or at least being willing to listen to, JonCon’s letter.

15) The Toynes have a very negative history with the Targaryens (and Barristan) but a positive one with the Blackfyres. Would it not make more sense for Myles Toyne to align himself with a Blackfyre rather than a Targaryen? Myles, who was the one who put his seal to the secret pact?

16a) It’s been 84 years. Even R+L=J, which is as much of a sure thing as you can possibly get, is disputed by some in the fandom. Some people believe Ashara Dayne is alive, and a subset of those go so far as to say she’s Jyana Reed. Some people have some theory about the Boltons being vampires. Like. It has been so long since the last book that things that would have been surprises or interesting twists have been examined to death, so by now they seem “too obvious.” Ten years ago, Aegon being real would undoubtedly have been a much more believed thing, because we’d have just recently been told it. But now? There’s been ample time to parse everything out and to determine that no, he likely isn’t real. Same for R+L=J. Ten years ago, or longer, Jon being revealed to be the son of Rhaegar and Lyanna would have been a bombshell. But now? It’s obvious as fuck. So to circle back around to “Yep, Aegon is real!” ignores the fact that it’s supposed to be a smokescreen and a twist.

16b) Related to this is GRRM’s own words. There’s an SSM where he’s asked whether Rhaenys and Aegon are really dead. He affirms that Rhaenys is but hedges for Aegon. Why? Not because he’s saying Aegon is real, but because he’s introducing the Young Griff arc. If he were to say, “Aegon’s definitely dead, too,” or “Aegon’s definitely alive,” that would completely spoil the tension and truth/untruth of the storyline.

Do I know that Aegon’s a fake? Obviously not, since we don’t have the books. But the evidence points to it being extremely unlikely that he’s the real deal. Like I also said, however, I’m not sure it really matters whether he is or not. So far as he knows, he’s truly Elia and Rhaegar’s son. His name is Aegon, he was raised to be a king, he seems to be quite a decent young man (people who cite him tipping over the cyvasse board can suck it), he will probably ride a dragon at some point, and so on. At the end of the day, who he’s biologically related to doesn’t seem super relevant.

[goodqueenaly]

House Words Wednesdays: House Morrigen

Welcome to House Words Wednesdays! Each week, I take a House without known canon or semi-canon words and present what I think could make sense as that House’s motto. You’re free to suggest more as well, if your favored House has not yet been suggested; take a look at this link to see what has already been suggested, and shoot me an ask through Tumblr if you have another House you’d like to see done. 

House Morrigen of Crow's Nest is a noble House of the Stormlands, one of the principal Houses sworn to Storm's End. While the Morrigens are as a family at least as old as the Targaryen Conquest (Dickon Morrigen was one of King Argilac Durrandon's warriors in the Last Storm, a commander of the vanguard who fell to the grounded Meraxes' flames), given that it was supposedly Durran Godsgrief himself who conquered the rainwood, it's probable the Morrigens are a very old family indeed. Unlike their Durrandon overlords, the Morrigens survived past the death of Argilac, as it was Ser Damon Morrigen, Captain of the Warrior's Sons, who faced off against Maegor and his champions in a trial of seven at the beginning of Maegor's reign - although, unfortunately for Damon, only Maegor of the 14 combatants survived that ordeal. A Lord Morrigen was later briefly mentioned in the context of Jon Connington's stop at Griffin's Roost with Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, with Lord Armond Connington spending the entire evening trying to win the prince to his side in his dispute with the Lord of Crow's Nest (it's a pet headcanon of mine that JonCon's mother was a Morrigen, and that this dispute was over some dower property of Lady Morrigen's which Papa Armond wanted to keep for House Connington). 

The most notable Morrigen in the main series, however, is undoubtedly Ser Guyard Morrigen. A younger brother of Lord Lester Morrigen, Ser Guyard joined his House when it declared for Renly at the start of the War of the Five Kings, and was chosen by Renly as one of his seven Rainbow Guard members. As Guyard the Green, Ser Guyard is seen by Catelyn at the feast at Bitterbridge, “diddl[ing] a harp” and making up a song about tying lions’ tails in knots. Guyard is not present when Renly is killed, but immediately thereafter joins Stannis (alongside his fellow Rainbow Guard veteran Bryce Caron). Given command of the vanguard (which he had wanted in Renly's army, but been passed over in favor of Ser Loras) during the Blackwater, Guyard is slain in single combat by “Renly's ghost” - Ser Garlan Tyrell, wearing Renly's armor. (The remaining Morrigen men, however, seem to be still loyal to Stannis, with at least Lord Lester apparently joining Stannis at the Wall.)

Both the sigil (a black crow in flight on storm-green) and the name of House Morrigen are an obvious reference to the Morrigan, a figure (well, a three-in-one figure) out of Irish mythology. A shapeshifter with strong magical powers, the Morrigan would often transform into a crow or raven, hovering over battlefields waiting to feast on the corpses below. Her presence in this form was said to foretell both the outcome in that battle and the fates of the warriors fighting in it, giving the Morrigen a role as a goddess of fate as well as battle and death Given this background, I decided to make the Morrigen words No Dread of Death. A crow does not dread death, but rather welcomes it where it finds it; to a crow, a corpse is a welcome sight, sustenance for its own life. In the same way, the Morrigens of Crow's Nest might wish to boast that they welcomed the work of the battlefield, and would make a (hopefully metaphorical) feast of their enemies in victory. Like the Morrigan which inspired their name and the crow on their banners, the Morrigens are at home amongst the carnage and death of war, relishing in the bloodshed. Certainly, neither Ser Damon nor Ser Guyard dreaded death, with Damon challenging the terrifyingly monstrous Maegor and Guyard leading Stannis' van in the devastating Battle of the Blackwater. Of course, for both situations, the Morrigen crow on their banners might as well have been the Morrigan herself, foretelling their doom in their combat.

Let me know what you think of these words for the Morrigens of Crow’s Nest. Next week stays in the Stormlands but moves out of the rainwood to a family of more divided loyalty.

[turtle-paced]

Revisiting Chapters: Epilogue, ADWD

Bit of a longer recap because it’s a long, dense epilogue.

The story so far…

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Cersei’s been marched through the streets naked and is awaiting trial for treason. Jaime’s AWOL in the Riverlands. Tommen is a child, Tywin is dead, the smallfolk are mobilising on religious lines, an invasion has come out of freaking nowhere, the Tyrell alliance is none too sound right now. This is the hour of Kevan Lannister - just the one hour.

From the East

The chapter starts with news of the fall of Griffin’s Roost brought before the Small Council. It’s a pretty tense place to be at the moment.

Lannister spearmen in crimson cloaks and lion-crested halfhelms stood along the west wall. Tyrell guards in green cloaks faced them from the opposite wall. […] Though neither Queen Cersei nor Queen Margaery was amongst them, their presence could be felt poisoning the air, like ghosts at a feast.

Behind the table where the five members of the king’s small council were seated, the Iron Throne crouched like some great black beast, its barbs and claws and blades half-shrouded in shadow.

It’s some vivid scene-setting. The Iron Throne itself holds court here, a monstrous and threatening thing that takes on a half-life of its own and rules over a divided ‘alliance’. Like maybe chasing the throne might be…bad? 

In any case, Red Ronnet’s come to King’s Landing asking for men to help defeat his uncle JonCon. Mace says that they’ll march in due course, and Ronnet can prove his loyalty then. In the meantime, Ronnet’s to be escorted to chambers and kept under a discreet guard. Which brings up the question of guards more generally. Ronnet came to King’s Landing with twenty men-at-arms who Jaime was trying to foist off on anyone else. Problem is, Tarly and Tyrell don’t want them either. Tarly because they’re disorderly, Tyrell because they’re westermen. Everyone can agree that they’re fit for the Night’s Watch and not much else.

Kevan, though, is starting to come around to Cersei’s perspective on Mace Tyrell in some ways.

The more I give him, the more he wants.

The difference between Kevan’s frustration and Cersei’s is that Kevan knows he can’t pick a fight with the Tyrells right now. They have armies. His own people are, in Kevan’s words, “melting away”. Meanwhile, as Pycelle points out, there are incursions from “adventurers” all along the coast with signs that Connington plans to move on Storm’s End.

So how are they planning to resist the reported incursion? Well…they aren’t, really.

“He cannot take Storm’s End. […] And if he does, what of it? Stannis holds it now. Let the castle pass from one pretender to another, why should that trouble us?”

Possibly because the bulk of Stannis’ forces are in the North, while Connington has armies in the field near LannisTyrell interests and territories, and can more easily use Storm’s End as a base to threaten them than Stannis can at present. I’m not an expert. Mace continues in this vein a little later:

“Once Paxter Redwyne sweeps the ironmen from the seas, my sons will retake the Shields. The snows will do for Stannis, or Bolton will. As for Connington…

[…]

“…as for Connington,” Tyrell repeated, “what victories has he ever won that wee should fear him?”

This is all in contrast to Kevan’s rather more accurate perception of the LannisTyrells having “foes on every side”. As he narrates, he does not share Mace’s confidence that they can just…win. He’s cautious of a Jon Connington older and more seasoned than the rash boy who lost the Battle of the Bells. Especially with the Golden Company and a Targaryen pretender in tow.

Worse, there are other rumours, of another Targaryen, one whose blood can’t be questioned, and incidentally one who actually has a few dragons. Daenerys. Mace dismisses her as mad, but again Kevan’s more cautious.

“With so much smoke drifting west, surely there must be some fire burning in the east.”

Pycelle is also cautious. He’s heard about a queen with dragons. Too many rumours to dismiss. Randyll Tarly scoffs and says Dany’s welcome to Slaver’s Bay, but Kevan reckons she’ll want to come to Westeros sooner or later. He emphasises the need to take care of Jon Connington and Aegon now, before Dany can sail across to join them. Unfortunately, Mace isn’t doing anything until after the trials.

Pycelle floats the idea that maybe the Golden Company could be bribed to leave. It seems pretty optimistic to me, without much appreciation for the Golden Company’s recent history, in which they actually broke a contract to come invade Westeros. That said, it’s more of a plan than Mace’s “so what?”

Conceptual problems aside, there’s also the practical issue that the Crown has no money. Harys Swyft is looking at taking out loans to cover loans, and even - gasp - raising taxes. Kevan, however, believes this is not politically viable. “Half the lords in the realm could not tell taxation from tyranny,” a surprisingly relatable sentiment from Kevan Lannister. Unlike Tywin, he can see a future where he might have to pay Crown debts with Lannister gold. Failing that, and lacking plunder (since searching Dragonstone has turned up a whole lotta nothing), Harys Swyft is going to have to go to Braavos and negotiate with the Iron Bank directly.

Lannister Strength

The other big thing going on here is the aftermath of Cersei’s walk of shame and her upcoming trial for treason. Also Margaery’s. Mace Tyrell, as discussed above, is postponing everything, all care for the kingdom, until his daughter is proven innocent. In yet another sign that the power might be getting to Mace’s head, he asks why Tommen can’t just declare Margaery innocent.

Do that, and the whispers will follow Margaery the rest of her life. “No man doubts your daughter’s innocence, my lord,” Ser Kevan lied, “but His High Holiness insists upon a trial.”

Kevan’s got a better appreciation for the fact that justice must be seen to be done (inasmuch as this is anything remotely approaching justice). He’s also got the diplomacy not to say it, and to pass the buck to the High Sparrow. But he cannot make Mace move.

Kevan informs the others at the meeting that Cersei’s elected to go for trial by combat, with ‘Robert Strong’ as her champion. Mace is pissed. He doesn’t know who Robert Strong is, and the fact that he doesn’t speak or show his face is mighty suspicious. Kevan doesn’t know either, but it’s more of a ‘see no evil’ situation. He’s just hoping that ‘Robert Strong’ is strong enough to do the job. Seeing that Mace doesn’t care, Kevan reminds him of the link to Margaery’s own troubles. Or Mace’s, whichever. If Cersei’s proved guilty, that raises questions about Tommen’s legitimacy. If Tommen’s not legitimate, his claim to the throne is an awful lot shakier. If that’s so, then Margaery’s claim to be a queen is also an awful lot shakier.

That said, Cersei’s clearly annoyed some people here, and Kevan’s got some appeasing to do. He means to return her to Casterly Rock - like a package, not the ruling Lady thereof - and see that she remains there, to do no further “mischief”. Her guards and ladies in waiting have been dismissed and win or lose this trial, she’s not going to have much more contact with her son. It’s a harsh comedown.

More bluntly, and even more personally:

Cersei was soiled goods now, her power at an end. Every baker’s boy and beggar in the city had seen her in her shame and every tart and tanner from Flea Bottom to Pisswater Bend had gazed upon her nakedness, their eager eyes crawling over her breasts and belly and woman’s parts. No queen could expect to rule again after that. In gold and silk and emeralds Cersei had been a queen, the next thing to a goddess; naked, she was only human, an aging woman with stretch marks on her belly and teats that had begun to sag…

This was done to destroy Cersei. Her self-image, her dignity, her power, everything.

Margaery, meanwhile, has opted for a trial by the Faith. Kevan rather cynically wonders why Margaery needs an army around her if she’s innocent. Gee. Kevan closes the meeting with the intention to reconvene in five days, after the matter of Cersei’s trial is settled.

Kevan’s getting worried about his internal position here. Very much. Maester Pycelle and Harys Swyft, known Lannister toadies, each ask Kevan for more guards. Pycelle notes that Mace  “loves [him] not,” while Kevan knows that Pycelle is not the only council member Tyrell would like to replace. Read: Mace Tyrell is not above vanishing the incumbents. Between that, and Mace’s observation that they could totally find a better match for Myrcella, it’s starting to look like the position might be going to Mace’s head a little. There is such a thing as concentrating power too far.

Overall, the council’s looking to be three Lannister-aligned members, three Tyrell-aligned members, with Nymeria Sand soon to come (and unlikely to be pally with any of them). Kevan hasn’t informed Mace what’s going to be happening in that regard. Also chalk up another person thinking wistfully of the good old days when Littlefinger was around to conjure gold from thin air. And on that note, Kevan warns his father-in-law that travelling to Braavos in the near future is very likely. Harys Swyft blames Cersei for his problems, which okay fair, but something still has to be done.

With that sorted out, Kevan goes to deal with his paperwork and prepare for dinner with Cersei and Tommen. The Kingsguard is depleted, down to Trant, Blount, and Robert Strong. This prompts some reflection on how Cersei’s been on a personal level since the end of her ADWD chapters.

His niece had been subdued and submissive since her walk of atonement, thank the gods. The novices who attended her reported that she spent a third of her waking hours with her son, another third in prayer, and the rest in her tub. She was bathing four or five times a day, scrubbing herself with horsehair brushes a strong lye soap, as if she meant to scrub her skin off.

Kevan’s reflection on Cersei as a child “so full of life and mischief” is a sad one. We know from Cersei’s own PoV that her childhood was not so idyllic as Kevan makes it sound, but yes, there was a point where Cersei was a kid, and where her life might have gone a different way. There was a ‘best’ to be nourished in Cersei, once upon a time, happier paths that could have been taken. Kevan’s quite aware of this. Because…

I have no reason to feel guilty, Ser Kevan told himself. Tywin would understand that, surely. It was his daughter who brought shame down upon our name, not I. What I did, I did for the good of House Lannister.

It was not as if his brother had never done the same.

So yes, the walk of shame was Kevan’s idea, ripped right out of Tywin’s own playbook. What Kevan did to Cersei is what Tywin did to his father’s mistress. It seems the woman had the nerve, the sheer nerve, to act like a noblewoman when she was a commoner. (Granted, it was a real bad move for her to wear jewels that once belonged to Lady Lannister.) Surely Tywin would never have dreamed that same fate awaited his own golden daughter, Kevan thinks, as if this was not a direct result of Tywin modelling how to disempower female political figures. If only there was some way to stop Lannisters turning on each other. Chalk the entire thing up as another example of Tywin inadvertently poisoning the Lannisters.

Dinner is a different sort of affair. There’s the Kingsguard present, Kevan noticing that Boros Blount is packing on weight and looking ill with it (no, I don’t think Tommen’s being poisoned - if he were, you’d expect the much smaller Tommen to show symptoms first. I think it’s too much rich food and not enough exercise for a middle-aged man). 

Cersei’s being attended by some of her rotating handmaidens, who aren’t allowed to serve her for more than a week by the High Septon’s decree, in case Cersei corrupts them. They spend all their time with Cersei for that week, with one sleeping in the same bed and reporting back on whether Cersei has company.

But pretty much the first thing of substance Cersei says is a dirty joke. She also asks for Taena Merryweather back, i.e. Someone who left her at the mercy of her enemies. Kevan might think Cersei’s been subdued, and she might well be - given the constant washing, I think Cersei’s ashamed and traumatised - but I do not think she’s been so literally chastened.

In terms of the course of the conversation, Cersei doesn’t ask about Jaime until prompted. She’s more assertive about getting info on Tyrion. Hell, she’s more assertive about getting info on whether Kevan means to bring his wife to court, making cryptic comments about wise women knowing their place. She asks about the Kettleblacks.

So when Kevan reflects mid-meal that:

Ser Kevan could not remember seeing his niece so quiet, so subdued, so demure. All for the good, he supposed. But it made him sad as well. Her fire is quenched, she who used to burn so bright.

Yeah…I don’t think so. I think we’re looking at a woman who’s biding her time and keeping things from Kevan.

A Cold Dark Night

Dinner is interrupted by a message from a boy downstairs. Apparently Pycelle wants to see Kevan now. Right this minute.

Could Storm’s End have fallen? Or might this be word from Bolton in the north?

“It might be news of Jaime,” the queen said.

Which shows you some respective priorities. He hads back out into the cold night, reflecting on the scenery.

As Ser Kevan made his way across the inner ward, the castle seemed an alien place, where every keep and tower had grown icy teeth, and all familiar paths had vanished beneath a white blanket.

This fresh snow isn’t the scene of wonder and cleanliness Sansa experienced in the Vale. This fresh snow is hostile and turns familiar settings treacherous. Kevan ducks inside the rookery where a second young working-class person is waiting, a girl this time. She takes Kevan’s cloak but does not speak, simply pointing him up to the steps.

Strangely, Pycelle’s chambers are cold. Despite the bitter chill, the hearthfire’s gone out, and the room’s lit by moonlight. All the better to see the massive white raven sent to officially announce the start of winter with.

Not that Kevan has much time to appreciate the sight or the import, because that’s when he gets shot. Crossbow to the chest. As Kevan staggers and collapses, he notices Pycelle at the table.

Sleeping, Kevan thought…until he blinked and saw the deep red gash in the old man’s spotted skull and the blood pooled beneath his head, staining the pages of his book.

Who could do such a thing? And to a perfectly innocent book! Oh and Pycelle’s dead too I guess. Kevan’s first thought is Tyrion. But as Kevan calls for his nephew, Varys makes his first appearance since A Storm of Swords as he steps out of the shadows with a crossbow. Time for some monologuing!

“Ser Kevan. Forgive me if you can. I bear you no ill will. This was not done from malice. It was for the realm. For the children.”

[…]

“You do not deserve to die alone on such a cold dark night. There are many like you, good men in service to bad causes…but you were threatening to undo all the queen’s good work, to reconcile Highgarden and Casterly Rock, bind the Faith to your little king, unite the Seven Kingdoms under Tommen’s rule. So…”

This tells us a lot more about Varys than it does about Kevan’s prospects of success, I reckon. We’ve had the entire rest of the epilogue outlining the enormity of the task in front of our good mate Kevan. It is my abiding suspicion that nobody knows how dire the kingdom’s financials are except Littlefinger, who swapped the treasury with a trash pile then set it on fire. Mind you, Varys is quite probably right that Kevan’s the person most capable of achieving any or all of those things.

Varys here reveals that he’s working for a cause. An agenda greater than himself and his own power. For the children. He also hasn’t made the mistake of thinking that everyone opposed to him is irredeemably evil and/or incompetent.

But it’s one thing to know that Varys is working for a cause. What is the cause? What exactly is he dedicated to, here?

Aegon.

“Aegon has been shaped for rule since before he could walk. He has been trained in arms, as befits a knight to be, but that was not the end of his education. He reads and writes, he speaks several tongues, he has studied history and law and poetry. A septa has instructed him in the mysteries of the Faith since he was old enough to understand them. He has lived with fisherfolk, worked with his hands, swum in rivers and mended nets and learned to wash his own clothes at need. He can fish and cook and bind up a wound, he knows what it is like to be hungry, to be hunted, to be afraid. Tommen has been taught that kingship is his right. Aegon knows that kingship is his duty, that a king must put his people first, and live and rule for them.”

That’s a hefty reveal. All this time, Varys has been working for a third party, destabilising several regimes from the inside in ultimate service to Aegon’s cause. But more important than just the reveal of the identity of Varys’ preferred candidate is the why of it.

Varys has nothing to say about Aegon’s right to the throne. On the contrary, he’s critical of a system where even as good-natured a kid as Tommen has been socialised into believing that he’s entitled to a throne. No, what Varys is talking about is a king for the people. A king who understands the perspective of the smallfolk and who believes his position is to work for them. We stan an unproblematic fave -

- wait, did he just set a bunch of kids with knives on Kevan to finish him off?

So yeah, the inherent hypocrisy is apparent by the time Kevan stops bleeding. For the children, Varys says, while using children to kill a man he believes to be good. That much I can see someone reconciling with the-ends-justify-the-means. 

The greater problems require a bit more of a step back. The reader’s seen Aegon more recently than Varys has, and Aegon is not all that and a bag of chips. He’s a kid, good intentions and a temper and a naive streak all mixed up. There is no perfection. In the greater scope of the story, he’s a human being who’s heading up a system that cannot be run fairly by its very nature. Varys has not accounted for the nature of the monarchy.

Nor has he accounted for the nature of stories. For all his virtues and all his flaws, Aegon has only been put through the motions of a heroic narrative - he hasn’t truly experienced the wilds. He’s been raised in a greenhouse, and winter is here.

Chapter Function

With Cersei locked up, we’ve actually been missing a good political PoV in King’s Landing for the first time in the entire series. So Kevan’s catching us up on some things here. A lot of things. It feels like half a book’s worth of political sketching out - the progress of the LannisTyrell alliance, pre-trial shenanigans, the continued implosion of Westeros’ finances.

Then it gets upended with Kevan’s assassination. Varys’ monologue helpfully indicates what to expect from the fallout, when we’re once again limited to Cersei’s somewhat out of the loop and definitely unreliable narration come TWoW. He expects the Lannisters and Tyrells to outright turn on each other, even as various parties find ways to blame Tyrion and the Dornish, severely hindering any attempts to resist Aegon while he secures a foothold on the continent. We can definitely see the shape of it.

There’s also the question of Varys’ Big Reveal. I tend to believe he’s been honest, for Doylist reasons as much as Watsonian. Varys being honest in this moment, if not completely open, seems to me to fit the pacing of the series. We’re due some answers at this point. It’s also just such a great way to advance the discussion of what makes a good monarch (i.e., trick question, there’s nothing - the best that can be done is to try) and what makes a good fantasy hero. Varys has created a claimant who ticks all the boxes, and I reckon we’ll see in TWoW that he could not recreate the spirit.

The weather is also an important point here. Snow is falling on King’s Landing. True winter has arrived.

Miscellany

Mace’s hand-shaped Hand throne is amazingly OTT. As Kevan’s narration notes but does not explore, he produces this throne the very day Kevan appointed him. Either Mace has Westeros’ fastest carpenters and joiners on staff, or he’s had this throne in the works for a while.

Tarly declares that scum such as Gregor Clegane’s old lot belong at the Wall, as part of the Night’s Watch. That’s where he thinks Sam belongs. That’s the level of scum he equates Sam to. Randyll Tarly is awful. News at eleven.

Kevan observes that if Doran Martell joins up with Connington, things could go badly for the LannisTyrells. Also, as the meeting concludes, Kevan notes that Tarly is ‘the real danger’. Gosh, I hope Doran Martell doesn’t join up with Connington and Tarly doesn’t turn on anyone after an observation like that. I also find it pretty interesting that Tarly repeatedly questions whether it’s genuinely Jon Connington, apparently sowing doubt about the seriousness of the threat. Paging Mr Chekov to the props department…

Rhaenys Targaryen’s cat Balerion is mentioned again. Tommen calls him the “bad cat”. Apparently Balerion clawed Joffrey’s hand once so I’m not sure how bad a cat he really is.

Clothing Porn

Cersei wears a dark brown gown buttoned to the throat, with a hooded green mantle. Less spectacularly, Kevan makes sure to wear an old doublet in case Cersei throws wine at his face again.

Food Porn

Beef and barley soup, brace of quail, roast pike, turnips and mushrooms, bread and butter, and cream cakes. Kevan also has a cup of mulled wine.

Next Three Chapters

Sansa VI, ACoK - Sam I, ASoS - Cersei VII, AFFC