Winning the Game of Thrones: The Host of Characters and their Agendas (4 page)

Dunk and Egg

Young Prince Aegon, fourth son of Prince Maekar, himself the fourth son of Daeron II (see above), attended the great tourney at Ashford. Seeking adventure, Aegon ran away from his drunken older brother and offered to be squire to an impoverished hedge knight, Ser Duncan the Tall. Ser Duncan was young and desperate to win his first tournament and establish himself, and he was persuaded to take on young “Egg,” as the boy called himself. Ser Duncan ran afoul of a mad Targaryen prince, and after many events, Prince Maekar agreed to let his son travel with Ser Duncan and learn the ways of chivalry. Dunk and Egg journeyed from Dorne to Winterfell, in a series of highly beloved short stories by Martin. (The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight,with others to come. These are available in various collections, listed in the
Bibliography
.)

When Maekar died, his two oldest sons had already perished, and the third, Aemon, had become a Maester (seen as the long-lived Maester Aemon on the Wall in Jon’s time). Aegon took the throne as Aegon V, called “Aegon the Unlikely,” as he had been so unlikely to inherit. He rained justly for twenty-six years with Ser Duncan the Tall as the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. He had several children, including his daughter 
Rhaelle, who was grandmother to Robert
 
Baratheon. In the third episode, writers dropped an Easter egg in for fans when Old Nan
 
offers to tell Bran
 
a story about Ser Duncan the Tall, adding “Those were always your favorites.”

Summerhall 

Believing a hot enough fire might hatch the last dragon eggs, Aegon V tested his theory at the Targaryen residence of Summerhall. In fact, the fire blazed out of control and Aegon V, his first son Prince Duncan the Small, and Ser Duncan the Tall were all killed in the blaze. In the chaos, his married grandchildren Rhaella and Aerys (later known as the Mad King) had a son they named Rhaegar. Summerhall would haunt the prince all his life. Aegon’s second son
Jaehaerys’ reign only lasted three years, and then
his
son, Aerys
 
II, assumed the throne. (
In a minor change from the books, Aerys II on the show is said to be the son of King Aegon V, rather than his grandson, simplifying the relationship between Maester Aemon and his nephew – not great-nephew – Mad King Aerys.)

Ser Barristan reflects that Daenerys’s infatuation with a commoner is weakening her throne in the Free Cities, and compares it to all the doomed relationships of her family:

Prince Rhaegar loved his Lady Lyanna, and thousands died for it. Daemon Blackfyre loved the first Daenerys, and rose in rebellion when denied her. Bittersteel and Bloodraven both loved Shiera Seastar, and the Seven Kingdoms bled. The Prince of Dragonflies [Prince Duncan] loved Jenny of Oldstones so much he cast aside a crown, and Westeros paid the bride price in corpses.

He ends by noting that treason and turmoil followed, “Ending at Summerhall in sorcery, fire, and grief.” (V:875). Certainly, this cycle of history is repeating.

Rhaegar and the Trident

Aerys II grew increasingly mad after he was abducted during a brief uprising known as the Defiance of Duskendale.
Barristan the Bold
managed to rescue him, but the damage was done. In revenge for his Hand Tywin Lannister’s uselessness (for during the siege, Tywin and his army had stood outside the gates, afraid to endanger the king by attacking), Aerys stole Tywin’s heir Ser Jaime for his Kingsguard and rejected his sister Cersei’s hand for his son Rhaegar, preferring Elia Martell of Dorne. Refusing to leave his castle, Aerys grew increasingly obsessed with fire, burning his subjects alive and commissioning thousands of jars of wildfire.

Prince Rhaegar, his father’s heir, was obsessed with the prophecy that a great prince would be born of his parents’ line. He named his son Aegon after Aegon the Conqueror and added, “What better name for a king?” On his birth, he pronounced, “He has a song…He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire” (II.701). He named his daughter for Aegon the Conqueror’s sister-wife, and wanted a second daughter to complete the triad. When his wife only produced one sister for Aegon reborn, then was rendered infertile, Rhaegar began planning.

During the Tourney at Harrenhal
, at which the Ned Stark and his siblings met a young Howland Reed, Crown Prince Rhaegar offended Robert Baratheon by naming his betrothed, Lyanna Stark, as Queen of Love and Beauty.

Ned remembered the moment when all the smiles died, when Prince Rhaegar Targaryen urged his horse past his own wife, the Dornish princess Elia Martell, to lay the queen of beauty’s laurel in Lyanna’s lap. He could see it still: a crown of winter roses, as blue as frost. (I:631)

When Rhaegar ran away to Dorne with Lyanna and hid with her in the Tower of Joy, her father 
Lord
 
Rickard Stark
 and his heir Brandon Stark rode to King’s Landing to protest and Aerys burned them alive while a horrified Ser Jaime watched. Aerys then demanded
that
 
Jon
 
Arryn
, Lord of the Eyrie, surrender his wards Robert
 
Baratheon
 
and
 
Ned
 
Stark
 for execution
. T
his began a civil war.

House Tully
 
joined the rebels, following the marriage
 
of Ned
 
and Jon
 
to
 
Catelyn
 
and Lysa
 
Tully
 
respectively.
Robert Baratheon killed Rhaegar in the Battle of the Trident, and with the death of the heir-apparent, the Targaryen supporters lost hope. Following this, Tywin Lannister, who had not declared himself during the conflict, rode to King’s Landing. Unlike Varys, who counseled caution, Grand Maester Pycelle advised the mad king that Tywin could be trusted, and the gates were opened. Tywin Lannister then declared for Robert, sacked the city, and had his knights, led by Gregor Clegane, “the Mountain that Rides,” murder Rhaegar’s small children Rhaenys and Aegon, along with Rhaegar’s wife Elia. Ser Jaime stabbed King Aerys in the back.

The pregnant Queen Rhaella and her small son Prince Viserys fled to Dragonstone, where Rhaella died giving birth to Princess Daenerys amidst salt and smoke. Her children were spirited to the Free Cities by the king’s master-at-arms, Ser Willem Darry, but left to wander and seek wealthy friends after their guardian died. On the strength of his success in battle and his Targaryen grandmother, Robert Baratheon became king and wed Cersei Lannister. Jon Arryn became his Hand.

Of course, these events fuel the conflicts of the series, especially season one. All the adults remember the war, and Jon, Ned, and Robert’s friendship was founded on it. Ser Barristan the Bold, Varys the Spymaster, Grand Maester Pycelle, and others worked for King Aerys before they transferred their loyalty to Robert. The mystery of Jon Snow’s parentage, Jaime’s legacy as Kingslayer, Cersei,
Catelyn,
 
and Lysa’s political
 
marriages all remain dangling threads woven into the tapestry of story.

The Saga Begins

A Game of Thrones
(the novel) begins with the prologue of White Walkers attacking a few rangers, then the first chapter with the Stark children finding the direwolves after a deserting ranger’s execution. The show starts the same way. Many wonder why we start after Robert’s Rebellion, in a time of (temporary) peace. However, most books begin in a time of calm…moments before the epic struggle begins to unfold. The peace allows us to get to know characters slowly: First the Starks, then King Robert and his entourage, then the people of King’s Landing and the larger world. Martin comments:

I don’t really remember why I decided that point; it probably wasn’t a conscious decision. I mean, you are sitting down and you wait... the story just comes to you and you follow its needs. For me, the story started with the direwolves in the snow and that was the first chapter written; then I wrote the second and the prologue, which comes before all of that, was written later, so the first thing I actually wrote was that scene in the snow. Everything sets in motion from there.
^[6]

Thus the history of Westeros informs the actions of the characters, with old alliances and conflicts reaching through the ages to today.

YOU WIN OR YOU DIE:

CHAPTER 2: AGENDAS ON GAME OF THRONES

Most characters, from the Tyrells to the Baratheons, want power. In fact most characters are quite upfront about their agendas. Some of the coming-of-age stories – Daenerys, Jon, Robb, and Theon’s arcs, for instance, are seen with them struggling between painful options as they choose what really matters. A few other characters are mysteries, leaving viewers divided on Varys’ secret agenda or Sansa’s perplexing words and actions. A deeper look, character by character, may offer clearer insight. (This is meant as character analysis – characters who offer startling spoiler-style revelations about who murdered who or what they’ve really been plotting are not included in this section.)

Petyr Baelish’s Obsession

Petyr Baelish was born to an insignificant house on the smallest of the Fingers, hence his nickname Littlefinger. His father, a sellsword’s grandson, befriended his liege lord Hoster Tully and Petyr was sent to foster with him at Riverrun. Growing up alongside the lord’s children, Catelyn, Lysa and Edmure, Petyr fell in love with Catelyn. This lady, however, was betrothed to her social equal, Brandon Stark, and chose the powerful lord her father had selected over her childhood friend. A jealous Petyr challenged the much older and larger Brandon to a duel for her hand. Beforehand, Catelyn begged her fiancé for Petyr’s life, so Brandon only left him a scar and a lifelong sense of humiliation. Brandon was killed by King Aerys, and, while Petyr sent Catelyn a hopeful letter, she burned it unread and married Brandon’s brother Ned.

Lysa in turn was in love with Petyr, and in the series, Petyr boasts around King’s Landing that he had both Tully girls’ maidenheads. After Lysa married Jon Arryn, she convinced her husband to give Petyr an appointment, and later to name him Master of Coin.

Ten years ago, Jon Arryn had given him minor sinecure in customs, where Lord Petyr had soon distinguished himself by bringing in three times as much as any of the king’s other collectors. King Robert had been a prodigious spender. A man like Petyr Baelish who had a gift for rubbing two golden dragons together and breeding a third, was invaluable to his Hand. Littlefinger’s rise had been arrow swift. Within three years of coming to court he had been made master of coin and a member of the small council, and today the crown’s revenues were ten times what they had under his predecessor...though the crown’s debt had grown vast.

Petyr became indispensable to the crown, yet always overlooked and mocked for his birth. No one wanted him to wed their daughters or inherit their holdings, only watch the king’s money. And so Petyr’s resentment grew.

More than anything, Petyr Baelish wants respect from those who always sneered at him – in particular, he wants Catelyn Stark. His present-day actions all appear to be motivated toward winning back Cat or the nearest substitute.

Littlefinger befriends Ned and gives him a bewildering mixture of good advice and bad. At last he betrays Ned to seize power but also to get Catelyn. His glee as he personally holds a knife to Ned’s throat, the only time in the series he seems to get his hands dirty, emphasizes his agenda. He tries to have Ned sent to the Wall – with him giving up his lands and wife forever, Catelyn will be free to find another, but she won’t be as distressed as she would be on his death. However, Joffrey kills Ned, and Catelyn is left to grieve. In season two, Petyr brings Catelyn her husband’s bones and tries to persuade her to be with him. She’s revolted and rejects him soundly.

Back in King’s Landing, he offers to save Sansa and sneak her to safety. (In the books, Baelish also offers to take Sansa off the Lannisters’ hands and wed her after her father’s death. They refuse, for as Cersei thinks to herself, he’s hardly of worthy birth.) In the later books, his actions toward her are a combination of affectionate and incestuously creepy. Sansa of course resembles her mother with shining red hair. She’s an innocent seeking a protector – exactly what inflames Littlefinger the most. Petyr is also interested in wedding Lysa Arryn and inheriting her kingdom...but only after Cat refuses him.

He’s also eager to be named Lord of Harrenhal – it’s a vassal of the Tullys, but the Lannisters propose to make it the new Great House of the Riverlands – Cat’s father and brother would be subject to Petyr, the poor ward they once judged not good enough for Cat. He could thus take his revenge on her family. In fact, since they’re in rebellion against King Joffrey, Littlefinger could attack Riverrun and behead its lords if he desires.

On the show more than in the books, Petyr’s center of power is the brothel, where he can order women to do anything he wishes – he will never be refused again. His whores on the show are an unsubtle means of controlling women...and notably, the red-headed Ros, with hair the color of Cat’s, soon becomes his second in command. In the books, he “tutors” Jeyne Poole, Sansa’s childhood friend, on how to please men within that brothel – since he cannot drag Sansa or Cat into his lair, he accepts a substitute.