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(Spoilers) The History of the Westerlands


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I know that the Peakes are still there - my guess is, that the fact that Maekar I died beneath the its walls, put an end to siege as well, since it caused a succession crisis that was only settled during a Great Council in the next year (233). Maekar died in 232.



Thus the Peakes could have gotten off the hook year again...



Tyrion's motivation is hard to interpret. As I said, the whole setting is just wrong - neither Aegon nor Tyrion would even speak about 'going east' or 'approaching Daenerys like a beggar' at this point.



But that aside, it was clearly an attempt to fuck with Varys and Illyrio's plans. But Tyrion could not have tried to travel to Dany on his own after he successfully convinced Aegon to invade Westeros. He would have gone with them. Perhaps he wanted to try to get his revenge sooner rather than later?



His thoughts about Dany also suggest, from time to time, that he fears Daenerys might just have him executed when she lays eyes upon him. That features into the whole thing, too.



But Aegon's successful Conquest is pretty much a given. The Tyrells can't throw their full might against the Lannisters, the Stormlords - especially the Marcher Lords - will most likely flock to Aegon's banners as soon as they have successfully taken Storm's End (they are not exactly fond of the Lannisters). Dorne will eventually declare for him, and all the other powers but the Vale are in no shape oppose him, either.



And Littlefinger/Sansa have much more reason to ally with Aegon than the Lannisters, since they cannot possibly try to reach an understanding with King Tommen or Queen Myrcella (especially not while Cersei is still alive).


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You know, I used to think that Aegon V wasn't a very good King. Aemon said he never killed the boy after all. Maekar, I thought was a rather underrated King, whose reputation mostly suffered from what happened to Breakspear. This extract seems to point the other way though, with Maekar being quite ineffectual and Aegon actually being a strong King.


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Aemon never said Egg did not kill the boy. He said to him he should kill the boy now, when he became king. And he did not need to kill the boy before that, since he was not his father's heir.



He did not expect to ascend the Iron Throne (both Daeron and Aerion lived throughout most of Maekar's reign), and his ascension apparently was not even very likely after Maekar died.


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You know, I used to think that Aegon V wasn't a very good King. Aemon said he never killed the boy after all. Maekar, I thought was a rather underrated King, whose reputation mostly suffered from what happened to Breakspear. This extract seems to point the other way though, with Maekar being quite ineffectual and Aegon actually being a strong King.

Maekar was practically a beta test for Stannis. How can you think that he was a good king :)

Thus the Peakes could have gotten off the hook year again...

I think there was a Peake boy who was spared at the behest of Dunk.

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There is no Peake boy in TMK, and Dunk did not ask Bloodraven to spare anyone. But since Gormy Peake seems to have been the only Peake at the scene, it's entirely likely that his sons/nephews/cousins could wiggle themselves out of the whole thing - 'our traitorous uncle/father didn't tell us anything about his plans' or something like that.



Bloodraven is not nearly as harsh as TSS indicated. He only executed the architects of the rebellion - Peake, Black Tom Heddle (already killed by Dunk), Alyn Cockshaw etc. Butterwell and Lord Frey - whose support was very crucial for the whole enterprise - were spared.



Thus I really don't think Bloodraven would have killed any Peakes not present at Whitewalls. But if Gormy had any sons - and that's very likely - then they most certainly were not exactly Targaryen loyalists, and could easily have been key rebels in another Blackfyre Rebellion.



I'm not really sure about Maekar being a bad king. In THK he really seems to be a Targaryen version of Stannis, in his inflexibility and his willingness to ignore stuff he doesn't like to see (Aerion being an ass). I guess he'll to his best, but still fuck things up. Aerys I was not exactly popular because he didn't give a fig about his Realm or ruling in general, but he wasn't exactly hated, either. King Maekar, on the other hand, would indeed be a constant remainder that Baelor Breakspear could have been king instead of this pox-scarred, platinum-blond guy. People won't exactly rallying to his cause, if you ask me.



It will be interesting to see if Aerys I names him Prince of Dragonstone shortly before his death, or whether Maekar just takes the throne as the sole (but unconfirmed heir). We all suspect that Rhaegel and his children predecease Aerys I, but even if this is the case, Bloodraven really could have had the power to try to oppose Maekar's rise if Aerys had not confirmed him as his heir...


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There is no Peake boy in TMK, and Dunk did not ask Bloodraven to spare anyone. But since Gormy Peake seems to have been the only Peake at the scene, it's entirely likely that his sons/nephews/cousins could wiggle themselves out of the whole thing - 'our traitorous uncle/father didn't tell us anything about his plans' or something like that.

Bloodraven is not nearly as harsh as TSS indicated. He only executed the architects of the rebellion - Peake, Black Tom Heddle (already killed by Dunk), Alyn Cockshaw etc. Butterwell and Lord Frey - whose support was very crucial for the whole enterprise - were spared.

Thus I really don't think Bloodraven would have killed any Peakes not present at Whitewalls. But if Gormy had any sons - and that's very likely - then they most certainly were not exactly Targaryen loyalists, and could easily have been key rebels in another Blackfyre Rebellion.

I'm not really sure about Maekar being a bad king. In THK he really seems to be a Targaryen version of Stannis, in his inflexibility and his willingness to ignore stuff he doesn't like to see (Aerion being an ass). I guess he'll to his best, but still fuck things up. Aerys I was not exactly popular because he didn't give a fig about his Realm or ruling in general, but he wasn't exactly hated, either. King Maekar, on the other hand, would indeed be a constant remainder that Baelor Breakspear could have been king instead of this pox-scarred, platinum-blond guy. People won't exactly rallying to his cause, if you ask me.

It will be interesting to see if Aerys I names him Prince of Dragonstone shortly before his death, or whether Maekar just takes the throne as the sole (but unconfirmed heir). We all suspect that Rhaegel and his children predecease Aerys I, but even if this is the case, Bloodraven really could have had the power to try to oppose Maekar's rise if Aerys had not confirmed him as his heir...

If Bloodraven opposed Maekar's rise to the throne, and Maekar turned out to be a bad King, it might go some way to explain his presence at the Great Council - he showed his ability to be a good judge of character and ruling capabilities.
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Which would be the exact mirror of Ser Barristan and the young Dontos Holland. Would that be a case to accuse of lazy copy and pasting plotlines?

“At the crossing of the Mander, he [ser Quentyn Ball] cut down the sons of Lady Penrose one by one. They say he spared the life of the youngest one as a kindness to his mother.”

“That was chivalrous of him,” Dunk had to admit.

Dunk will follow the example of Fireball and spare the youngest son because of the code of chivalry.

More of history repeating itself, in which case it might have had consequences later on ;)

Agreed.

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Ser Dontos was spared, but IIRC, he never got Hollard lands back, not even after Robert became king. What would motivate anybody not just to spare a young Peake, but to let him keep his lordship and his lands? I mean after all the trouble they have caused during several Blackfyre rebellions and on their own, including the death of King Maekar (!), Peakes weren't even demoted to landed knights like Conningtons were. Being _that_ lenient wouldn't be merely chivalric, but Tytos-level of permissiveness and weakness.

IMHO, it is far more likely that succession crisis after Maekar's death let Peakes return into the fold on far more favorable terms than they could have otherwise hoped for.

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Ser Dontos was spared, but IIRC, he never got Hollard lands back, not even after Robert became king. What would motivate anybody not just to spare a young Peake, but to let him keep his lordship and his lands? I mean after all the trouble they have caused during several Blackfyre rebellions and separately, including the death of King Maekar (!), Peakes weren't even demoted to landed knights like Conningtons were. Being _that_ lenient wouldn't be merely chivalric, but Tytos-level of permissiveness and weakness.

IMHO, it is far more likely that succession crisis after Maekar's death let Peakes return into the fold on far more favorable terms than they could have otherwise hoped for.

Peake lands might now belong to another branch of the family. That would most likely ensure the loyalty of that branch to the IT.

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Ser Dontos was spared, but IIRC, he never got Hollard lands back, not even after Robert became king. What would motivate anybody not just to spare a young Peake, but to let him keep his lordship and his lands? I mean after all the trouble they have caused during several Blackfyre rebellions and separately, including the death of King Maekar (!), Peakes weren't even demoted to landed knights like Conningtons were. Being _that_ lenient wouldn't be merely chivalric, but Tytos-level of permissiveness and weakness.

IMHO, it is far more likely that succession crisis after Maekar's death let Peakes return into the fold on far more favorable terms than they could have otherwise hoped for.

Egg was still a "boy" when Maekar died. I bet he didn’t want to start his reign by destroying a House completely, especially if it involves murdering children or sending them to exile/Wall/silent sisters etc. Besides, Bloodraven wanted to keep Daemon II alive as a sign of the benevolence of King Aerys. Egg might have followed his example and keep the Peakes although their defiance caused the death of his father. And if we follow the example of Daemon II further, there might be some Peakes in the GC, who would be the rightful Lord Peake should the boy Peake die. Egg probably would not like that.

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Oh, you guys were suggesting that a Peake boy was spared when Starpike was besieged by Maekar in 232 (he died in 232, not in 233 - Aegon V ascended to the Iron Throne in 233, but his father died at least months before that happened)?



That's easily possible - I was thinking about Dunk sparing a Peake boy at Whitewalls (but there was none there). My guess is that due to Maekar's untimely death in battle the siege of Starpike did not continue, and the Peakes were not defeated in battle.



If this succession crisis was severe enough to cause the convening of a Great Council, it would have been easily imaginable that the Lords present did not want to continue the siege under the command of Prince Aegon. Alternatively, it's also imaginable that Aegon thought that this whole siege thing was a bad idea in general, just his stubborn father wanting to get rid of those 'damned Peakes' once and for all. I can easily see Maekar not being in mercy mode if one of Gormy's sons/grandson joined Bittersteel in the Third Blackfyre Rebellion, but if we assume that this Lord Peake already died in battle, and the Peakes in the castle had little/nothing to do with the treason of their cousin/father, then there would be little need to continue the siege after Maekar's death.



After the Great Council and Aegon's coronation, the Peakes could then have quietly bent the knee to lose another portions of their lands...



As to Egg still being a boy:



He is already pretty good king material in TMK. I guess that Egg's problem will not be that he's too generous to his enemies, but rather that he'll have some difficulties to be the king of his friends. Dunk & Egg should become good friends with a lot of different people throughout their travels, and pretty much all of them might try to profit from this friendship. This should be the real challenge.


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I don't believe Maekars death is stated anywhere to have occured in 232AC, right? We know Egg ascended the throne in 233AC, due to the Great Council, but hints about how long the council took to make their decision, or about when they started, isn't stated anywhere in text?



Or was this something that was stated during the ConCarolinas reading and I missed it in the notes?


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It's from the reading. Maekar died in 232:



'Tybald and Tion were sons of Gerold’s, twins. Tybald (pretty positive it was Tybald, as we have heard of another one, but not 100%) was the eldest twin. In 232 AC, he died in battle, while a squire to Roger Reyne, the Red Lion. He died of a spear wound, in the arms of his twin Tion, who himself was a squire to Aegon V. Tybald became a knight on his deathbed. In this same battle, King Maekar I was crushed to death by a rock hurled from the battlements of Starpike (seat of House Peake, who fought in some Blackfyre Rebellions). Many Reynes died in the fighting as well.'


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It's from the reading. Maekar died in 232:

'Tybald and Tion were sons of Gerold’s, twins. Tybald (pretty positive it was Tybald, as we have heard of another one, but not 100%) was the eldest twin. In 232 AC, he died in battle, while a squire to Roger Reyne, the Red Lion. He died of a spear wound, in the arms of his twin Tion, who himself was a squire to Aegon V. Tybald became a knight on his deathbed. In this same battle, King Maekar I was crushed to death by a rock hurled from the battlements of Starpike (seat of House Peake, who fought in some Blackfyre Rebellions). Many Reynes died in the fighting as well.'

Mr. Martin must have really liked Gormenghast.

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