#good lord thats a lot of words about denys mallister

[a-song-of-art-and-fire]

Ser Denys Mallister, Commander of the Shadow Tower

“We are the sons of great lords, you and I. We know the importance of birth, blood, and that early training that can ne’er be replaced. I was a squire at twelve, a knight at eighteen, a champion at two-and-twenty. I have been the commander at the Shadow Tower for thirty-three years. Blood, birth, and training have fitted me to deal with kings."

Rounding out my winter's worth of cold themed minis - the Commander of the Shadow Tower. This is going to destroy any credibility I had, but... despite loving House Mallister and loving Denys Mallister, I had somehow never consciously connected that Denys Mallister is... a Mallister. It actually fits very well with his rivalry with Cotter Pyke as an ironman vs Mallister rivalry, but until I was painting those little eagle pauldrons, I'd never considered him as a Mallister.

It also fits with GRRMs pattern of using the Mallisters in particular as a stand in for "The Nobility" - Will was arrested for poaching in a noble's woods - Mallister. There's a rough lowborn commander vs a hoity toity noble commander - Mallister. Catelyn realises she can hide in plain sight because nobles who have known her her whole life won't look twice at an apparent commoner - Lord Mallister, even though he's in a tournament in Kings Landing at that time.

The mini is pretty straightforward, classic Nights Watch colour scheme, but I'm fond of the details - his breastplate and especially those eagle pauldrons. Honestly if I'd noticed them before starting painting, I might have repurposed him into Jason Mallister, my bizarre minor character crush.