Maegor the Cruel saved the Targaryen Dynasty

[Prince of Dragonstone]

I am pretty sure this notion has been floated around this message board as well as others but I think it can use some more exploring since it is pretty much orthodoxy to subscribe to the idea that Maegor was, if not the worst, one of the top three worst Kings in the long history of Westeros. But, as in so much of GRRM's characters, there is always that gray area. Always that aspect of the person that makes you reconsider your original stance. After reading AWoIaF I have pretty much come to believe that if it weren't for Maegor's swift and brutal action against the Faith Militant and the rebel lords who sprung up like weeds after Aegon I's death, the Targaryen Dynasty would have collapsed before it ever really began.

 

First we need to re-examine the reign of his half-brother Aenys I to understand why Visenya believed her son Maegor needed to step in and take charge. The Faith Militant had been steadily encroaching upon the royal prerogative for some time during Aenys' tenure as King. They had repeatedly tried and tested the will of Aenys and every time he backed down to their demands. The very fact that they were even allowed to take up arms was a mistake in itself. Sure, Aenys was an affable, gentle-hearted and considerate person but these traits alone are clearly not enough to hold and maintain royal power.

 

After the death of The Conqueror the realm began to test the mettle of their still relatively new overlords almost from the start of Aenys' reign. Every decision this King made turned out to be ineffectual at best and disastrous at worst. He preferred to dither and worry than to lead and take decisive action. When Harren the Red threatened the realm, it was up to the Hand of the King, Alyn Stokeworth, to quell the rebellion at the cost of his own life. When Goren Greyjoy dispatched a pretender to the throne claiming to be King Lodos reborn, the King rewarded him with a boon...that he then used it to oust the Faith of the Seven off the Iron Islands for good, much to the dismay of the Faith believers on the mainland.

 

When Maegor took a second wife, the Faith became enraged and Aenys allowed himself to be forced to exile his brother to Pentos. After this incident he made an even more foolish mistake by then marrying his son and heir Aegon to his daughter, the princess Rhaena. This incestuous union was the final straw for the Faith and they all violently turned on the Targaryens beginning the Faith Rebeliion in earnest. After all of these various infractions against the Iron Throne you would think that Aenys would finally wake up and take command of the kingdom his father, mother and aunt had worked so hard to forge but he became even MORE retiring and withdrawn, leading to more disaster. 

 

So then, is it any wonder why Visenya found it necessary to (allegedly) hasten to the demise of her nephew? If he had been allowed to live any further all that she and her siblings had worked for would have turned to dust. It would have all been for nought. Visenya, deemed it absolutely necessary that Maegor, who she knew had more than enough resolve to quell the dissension, would destroy all threats to the throne. Sure, she could have placed the crown on Aenys' son, Aegon, but how was she to know that

 

Now I am not saying that Maegor was a good King, far from it. For while he did take decisive action from the very start of his reign, he obviously took his vengeance too far and caused a great deal of animosity. But because of his brutality the threat of the Faith Militant was smashed to pieces (until our ole' gal Cersei re-armed them of course lol). The Faith Uprising did not fully end until the Conciliator brought peace to the Seven Kingdoms but this peace could not have been reached if the Militant was as strong as they were before Maegor's rule. They were so weakened by constant warfare that they had little choice but to adhere to Jaehaerys and reconcile to the Iron Throne.

 

Because of harsh methods of Maegor the great lords learned to fear House Targaryen once more, as it takes fear of retribution to fully lead. If it weren't for the carnage and bloodshed that Maegor exacted during his short and brutal reign then future kings like Jaehaerys I and Viserys I would not have enjoyed such long and prosperous reigns. They still would have had to contend with the constant backbiting of rebellious lords and the Faith Militant for decades more, if the Dynasty even survived.

[Lord Varys]

I agree with your basic analysis that Maegor's campaigns against the Faith Militant enabled Jaehaerys' conciliatory approach later on. And I also agree that Maegor did indeed restore the Targaryen dynasty to the Iron Throne and successfully 'saved the Conquest'.

 

However, it is unclear whether Maegor had to usurp the throne to accomplish this or whether Aenys had to die. Visenya could have defied his wishes and brought back Maegor and Balerion and/or dealt with Oldtown and the High Septon on Vhagar herself. Considering Aenys' personality, he most likely would have thanked his aunt and half-brother if they had restored him to his throne. Since we don't know whether Aegon was resembling his father Aenys or his grandfather, the Conqueror, we don't really know if Visenya/Maegor supporting King Aegon II would have had the same results as the Trial of Seven and Maegor's ruthless approach as king.

 

But Maegor's treatment of his own kin as well as his general character and paranoia made him the worst king imaginable. Strength and a firm hand against the Faith were necessary up to a point, but Maegor's continued cruelty eventually caused his downfall. He could easily have saved his throne and become a different sort of king if he had been a different man and if he had been willing to make some compromises. Say, marrying Alyssa Velaryon and making her sons his heirs rather than antagonizing and killing them.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

Indeed. Furthermore, Maegor may actually have been Aenys' lawful heir, not an usurper. Between the planned marriage Maegor-Rhaena, him being the Prince of Dragonstone, his great leniency in dealing with Aegon 1.5's rebellion, naming Aera his her etc...

[Lord Varys]

Prince Aegon was Aenys' legal heir. Even if we go with the assumption that Maegor was Aenys' heir while he was serving as Hand, it is confirmed that Aegon was Aenys' chosen heir when he married him to Rhaena. Not to mention that Aegon, Viserys, and Jaehaerys were actually considered to come before Maegor in the line of succession, and some people even considered the girls (Rhaena and Alysanne) to come before Maegor.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

Well, yes, after Maegor was banished and probably linked to that.

[Lord Varys]

'The Sons of the Dragon' has Aenys' sons as the Conqueror's next heirs directly after Aenys himself - whether Rhaena and Alysanne come before Maegor, too, or only after him isn't clear, but there are those who see Maegor at the very end of the line of succession. Maegor may have been Prince of Dragonstone, but back then it isn't clear that title was restricted to the Heir Apparent.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

"The Sons of the Dragon" also has Maegor as Aenys' co-ruler and is written by Archmaester Gyldayn, about as "unbiased" as Yandel himself.

[Gasp of Many Reeds]

I get the distinct impression that, whatever Aenys' weaknesses, Maegor's cruelty and paranoia caused much more damage to the Targaryen cause than his iron fist did towards securing their power. If there had not been a highly competent ruler such as Jaehaerys to succeed Maegor, the Targaryen Dynasty and the Seven Kingdoms would have more than likely collapsed into anarchy. Typical strongman fallacy of confusing the chaos a tyrant might leave behind with the ability to promote political concordance (see what's happening now in most of the Middle East for more examples)

[Bright Blue Eyes]

The dynasty wouldn't have survived Aenys' any longer. The Targaryens were besieged outright!

 

Furthermore, I'm not exactly impressed with Jaehaerys. We know of three of his policies, one was benefitting from the aftermath of Maegor, one was an utter catastrophy with everybody predicting it (New Gift) and the other was worse (inheritance and Dance of Dragons in the end).

[Lord Varys]

Yeah, as his 'co-ruler' in the sense that he was Aenys' Hand and helped him rule. There is no hint there that Aenys wanted Maegor to be his heir or considered him as such. Gyldayn doesn't discuss the succession from his own perspective, he refers to contemporary debate on the matter, building up to the eventual succession war - which was begun by Maegor and Visenya, not Aegon.

 

Back to the topic:

 

The Faith Militant was still armed throughout the reigns of Aegon and Aenys. The power of the Faith was an unresolved issue, and Aegon didn't know how to deal with it or never dared to antagonize the Faith. In that sense, Aegon and Visenya are as much to blame for the whole crisis as Aenys. And it was actually Maegor who began the open hostilities with the High Septon during that whole Harroway scandal. Aenys was wroth about the whole marriage on his own, but the High Septon openly denounced it as 'sin and fornication' calling Aly 'that whore of Harroway', and the pious lords echoed him on that. Maegor then came up with that 'the blood of the dragon is not bound by the doctrines of the Faith' stuff, which raised the High Septon's ire not only against Maegor but against Aenys and the other Targaryens as well.

 

Aenys could have won the Realm back, too, if he had commanded the dragonriders to attack, and led the way in the process. What Maegor did, Aenys could have done, too.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

Well, he didn't. Repeatedly.

[Fire Eater]

Maegor did make things easier for Jaehaerys in that he really diminished the military power of the Faith, and the quarrelsome HS was replaced with a more amiable one. The Faith was also tired of war by that point, but it was Jaehaerys managed to successfully secure a peace with the Faith, taking away their courts, further reducing their power, and peacefully I might add. He did it in a deal that essentially rubber stamped the Faith's support of the Crown and had them turn a blind eye to the Targaryen incest. 

 

Because of harsh methods of Maegor the great lords learned to fear House Targaryen once more, as it takes fear of retribution to fully lead. If it weren't for the carnage and bloodshed that Maegor exacted during his short and brutal reign then future kings like Jaehaerys I and Viserys I would not have enjoyed such long and prosperous reigns. They still would have had to contend with the constant backbiting of rebellious lords and the Faith Militant for decades more, if the Dynasty even survived.

Except it wasn't in a controlled, consistent manner like with Tywin for the most part. The fear turned into hatred, what Machiavelli warned against. 

 

The dynasty wouldn't have survived Aenys' any longer. The Targaryens were besieged outright!

 

Furthermore, I'm not exactly impressed with Jaehaerys. We know of three of his policies, one was benefitting from the aftermath of Maegor, one was an utter catastrophy with everybody predicting it (New Gift) and the other was worse (inheritance and Dance of Dragons in the end).

The Dance of Dragons wasn't Jaehaerys's fault. The reasons for it occurred long after Jaehaerys's death, and he couldn't have seen so far into the future. It was more Viserys's fault and that of his brother and children. The New Gift was good PR, and didn't cause any backlash. He also abolished prima noctis, which won the monarchy the love of the smallfolk. He also built the kingsroads connecting the realm, and created a unified legal code for the realm.   

[Bright Blue Eyes]

The Dance of Dragons wasn't Jaehaerys's fault. The reasons for it occurred long after Jaehaerys's death, and he couldn't have seen so far into the future. It was more Viserys's fault and that of his brother and children. The New Gift was good PR, and didn't cause any backlash. He also abolished prima noctis, which won the monarchy the love of the smallfolk. He also built the kingsroads connecting the realm, and created a unified legal code for the realm.   

Jaehaerys messed up the succession twice. The Dance of Dragons was the third mess - in a row. He created the clusterfuck of weak, contradictory laws that exploded around Viserys.

 

The New Gift ruined both the Nights Watch by stretching them too thin for their duties and their relationship to the Northern Lords loosing that land. And Jaehaerys knew that this would be the results - the Starks shouted loud enough!

[Prince of Dragonstone]

Perhaps the savage nature of Maegor's reign reminded the fairweather lords that swore fealty to the Dragon Kings that the words on their banners were not just for decoration. Again, I believe that, as awful as this is, Maegor's cruelty is a large reason why the dynasty survived through the earlier era.

 

Visenya, of course, had political ambitions for her son no doubt, but she also could have taken Aenys out at any moment if her only intention was seizing the Iron Throne for Maegor. She only took Aenys' life when the very capital of the Kingdoms was besieged from within by the Faith and the King chose to flee to Dragonstone instead of lead his people. That was the final straw for Visenya who by all accounts was a proud and fiery woman. Because of her cunning decisiveness she was able to steer the Kingdoms back in line, however bloody the cost. Now I'm not even saying that this is "good"...just stating that this is what happened. For better or for worse, Maegor's reign is what really carried the dynasty from Aegon's death to Jaehaerys' long and benevolent rule. 

[Fire Eater]

Perhaps the savage nature of Maegor's reign reminded the fairweather lords that swore fealty to the Dragon Kings that the words on their banners were not just for decoration. Again, I believe that, as awful as this is, Maegor's cruelty is a large reason why the dynasty survived through the earlier era.

 

Visenya, of course, had political ambitions for her son no doubt, but she also could have taken Aenys out at any moment if her only intention was seizing the Iron Throne for Maegor. She only took Aenys' life when the very capital of the Kingdoms was besieged from within by the Faith and the King chose to flee to Dragonstone instead of lead his people. That was the final straw for Visenya who by all accounts was a proud and fiery woman. Because of her cunning decisiveness she was able to steer the Kingdoms back in line, however bloody the cost. Now I'm not even saying that this is "good"...just stating that this is what happened. For better or for worse, Maegor's reign is what really carried the dynasty from Aegon's death to Jaehaerys' long and benevolent rule. 

Maegor could have crushed the rebellion without the cruelty and brutality. That proved to be counterproductive as the Faith Militant continue to fight after the HS told them to stand own. He at least made them much more amenable to Jaehaerys who they knew could be reasoned with. 

Jaehaerys messed up the succession twice. The Dance of Dragons was the third mess - in a row. He created the clusterfuck of weak, contradictory laws that exploded around Viserys.

 

The New Gift ruined both the Nights Watch by stretching them too thin for their duties and their relationship to the Northern Lords loosing that land. And Jaehaerys knew that this would be the results - the Starks shouted loud enough!

The first time Jaehaerys likely really thought through this decision, and felt Baelon was a better choice than Rhaenys. The second time it was the decision of the Great Council, and he would be a fool to go against that decision and slight 80% of the lords in the realm. The Dance wasn't Jaehaerys's doing, but Viserys's. Viserys ignored the precedents of the Great Council as well as his grandfather and the millenia of male primogeniture in Westeros.  

 

The NW's decline wasn't caused by the New Gift, but a decline in recruit inflow, and the Northern lords still revere the NW. The Starks weren't going to rebel over it, and Jaehaerys knew how to deal with them.  

[Lord Varys]

If we go with a scenario in which Aenys retreats to Dragonstone, effectively abandoning KL and the Iron Throne to the Faith Militant, then a strong and ruthless military campaign against them is necessary to win the Realm back. We have to keep in mind that the Warrior's Sons and the Poor Fellows were effectively on a crusade to eradicate the Targaryens. Some of them were as extreme and as ruthless as Maegor was (e.g. given the cruel murder of Septon Murmison, Aenys' Hand).

 

Perhaps Maegor and Visenya could have helped or backed King Aegon II, but I actually doubt that they would have had much success this way. Aegon was still pretty young, and had no experience in the ruling department. Maegor as his self-proclaimed Hand could most likely not have gained the same momentum as he did when he effectively began reconquering KL as the new Targaryen king.

 

But Maegor endangered the continuation of the dynasty in an even more dangerous way than Aenys. He persecuted and murdered his own kin, and was incapable of fathering a living heir. Had Maegor gotten his hands on Jaehaerys and Alysanne, he would have killed them, too, and that would effectively have been the end of the Targaryen dynasty. At the end of Maegor's reign the Realm was standing up against him, and there is no reason to believe that Jaehaerys was the cause of that rebellion - he just became the figurehead of some of the rebels.

 

To remain in power or be a good king Maegor would have had to try reconcile with his remaining enemies after his original victories. He should have made peace with Aenys' family, and offered pardons to yielding rebels. Not to mention that he should not have married all the black brides in 47 AC.

 

Jaehaerys' greatness and conciliatory approach wouldn't have been apparent back in 48 AC. The boy was fourteen at that time, and the new king's government would have been dominated by his mother Alyssa, the Queen Regent, and his new stepfather, Robar Baratheon, who served as Hand and Lord Protector - and most likely continued up in the office of the Hand up until 59 AC. We know that Septon Barth died in 99 AC, and it is said that he gave the Realm forty years of peace, suggesting that he became Hand only around 59 AC.

 

Had Robar, Barth, and Jaehaerys been remarkably different people, things might have gone very difficult after Maegor's reign. The Realm may very well have been in a similar mind as Rome was in the aftermath the murder of Caligula - not very keen on a continuation of the Targaryen reign, and it may have been only the popularity of Alyssa Velaryon and the strength of those people who had actually fought/proclaimed specifically for Jaehaerys I prior to Maegor's fall that enabled him to take the throne. But we don't really know - have no reason to believe - that Alyssa and Robar (and later on, young Jaehaerys without Barth) could begin the conciliatory politics of the Conciliator in the early years of his reign.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

The first time Jaehaerys likely really thought through this decision, and felt Baelon was a better choice than Rhaenys. The second time it was the decision of the Great Council, and he would be a fool to go against that decision and slight 80% of the lords in the realm. The Dance wasn't Jaehaerys's doing, but Viserys's. Viserys ignored the precedents of the Great Council as well as his grandfather and the millenia of male primogeniture in Westeros.  

And that caused a big rift with Queen Alysanne. Furthermore, a better choice is not as important as a solid choice.

 

The NW's decline wasn't caused by the New Gift, but a decline in recruit inflow, and the Northern lords still revere the NW. The Starks weren't going to rebel over it, and Jaehaerys knew how to deal with them.  

The NW's decline was caused by the NW being unable to protect the increased Gift (as the Starks predicted), the Gift loosing it's population, the NW loosing it's income and in the end their recruits as well as their reputation.

Furthermore, the Northern Lords didn't revere the NW for a couple generations.. Basically, it's Mormont's and Benjen's generations that changed that.

 

 

To remain in power or be a good king Maegor would have had to try reconcile with his remaining enemies after his original victories. He should have made peace with Aenys' family, and offered pardons to yielding rebels. Not to mention that he should not have married all the black brides in 47 AC.

Well, he did. And it worked. For two years, only wrecking up again upon Visenya's death - which may have been murder, or at least perceived as murder. Maegor had a Queen, a heir and a squire straight from Aenys' line, no problem.

[Lord Varys]

BBE,

 

you are writing fan fiction here. There is no hint whatsoever that Visenya was murdered, nor is there any indication that Prince Viserys was ever Maegor's heir. He may have been nothing but a hostage. Surely Maegor would not have murdered his own heir, especially since the whole torture thing before his death would have ensured that he had nothing to do with Alyssa's escape. If he had been killed for being complicit in 'Visenya's alleged murder' one expects that Maegor would actually have proclaimed as much to the public. But nothing suggests any of this sort - and Yandel has no read to paint Maegor as a bad guy. The man is dead for 250 years, nobody really cares about what he did during his reign.

 

As to the NW:

 

One expects that the New Gift plan didn't work because neither the Starks nor the later Targaryen kings (cared to) make/made it work. If the lords had sent more people to the NW it wouldn't have continued to decline, and the Northern lords could easily have offered their help in a military way to their New Gift neighbors in case the NW was to weak to protect its levies there. But they either did not not or could not - if they did not, they were just asses and contributed as much to decline of the New Gift as the NW and Jaehaerys, and if they could not the lands that became the New Gift would have declined even if they hadn't been given to the NW because the threat of the wildlings would have driven the smallfolk farther south.

 

On Jaehaerys' succession:

 

The decision of 92 AC didn't cause all that big a problem. One expects that King Baelon I - if he had ruled - would have taken steps to reunite his own branch with Aemon's/Rhaenys'. Say, by not allowing Viserys a second wife after Aemma's death and marrying Rhaenyra to Laenor, effectively designating Laenor as second in line to the throne (after Viserys).

The Great Council is actually at the root of the Dance as it broke out, and that has nothing to do with Jaehaerys. Viserys was Jaehaerys favorite heir anyway, being the eldest son of his chosen heir, Baelon. The buildup for the Dance came from many people including Prince Daemon interpreting the Great Council as stipulating that females and sons of females couldn't inherit at all, forcing Viserys to formally install Rhaenyra as his Heir Apparent if he wanted to prevent Daemon from seizing the throne upon his own premature death. And after that was done Viserys couldn't easily change things in favor of Aegon, even if he wanted to. Especially not after the marriage to Laenor, since that would have offended the Velaryons a third time.

 

Jaehaerys prevented a succession war back in 101 AC. His heirs and descendants fucked things up later on. If there is somebody to blame for things it is them, not the Old King.

[Bright Blue Eyes]

BBE,

 

you are writing fan fiction here. There is no hint whatsoever that Visenya was murdered, nor is there any indication that Prince Viserys was ever Maegor's heir. He may have been nothing but a hostage. Surely Maegor would not have murdered his own heir, especially since the whole torture thing before his death would have ensured that he had nothing to do with Alyssa's escape. If he had been killed for being complicit in 'Visenya's alleged murder' one expects that Maegor would actually have proclaimed as much to the public. But nothing suggests any of this sort - and Yandel has no read to paint Maegor as a bad guy. The man is dead for 250 years, nobody really cares about what he did during his reign.

Nope. It's all in the books. Please remember, I speculated about the murder, or the perception of murder (Maegor's perception). It is odd that Alyssa had the power to escape Dragonstone, especially with Visenya's sword, straight when Visenya died. Whether or not there was murder, Maegor could jump on that oddness and wonder. Wonder and ask questions, like "one assassination in Dragonstone, one in KL". One successful, the other foiled.

Furthermore, I never said Viserys was Maegor's heir. Aera was and that's straight in the text.

 

Yandel has no personal reason to paint Maegor negatively - but all his sources do. From the Septons to Jaehaerys' Maesters, everybody did.

 

As to the NW:

 

One expects that the New Gift plan didn't work because neither the Starks nor the later Targaryen kings (cared to) make/made it work. If the lords had sent more people to the NW it wouldn't have continued to decline, and the Northern lords could easily have offered their help in a military way to their New Gift neighbors in case the NW was to weak to protect its levies there. But they either did not not or could not - if they did not, they were just asses and contributed as much to decline of the New Gift as the NW and Jaehaerys, and if they could not the lands that became the New Gift would have declined even if they hadn't been given to the NW because the threat of the wildlings would have driven the smallfolk farther south.

The Starks warned Jaehaerys. Their warnings proved true (that's straight in the text, Jon's chapters). So, Jaehaerys obviously committed a mistake. That the Northern Lords didn't clean up his shit is another discussion but doesn't absolve Jaehaerys of causing the mess in the first place.

 

On Jaehaerys' succession:

 

The decision of 92 AC didn't cause all that big a problem. One expects that King Baelon I - if he had ruled - would have taken steps to reunite his own branch with Aemon's/Rhaenys'. Say, by not allowing Viserys a second wife after Aemma's death and marrying Rhaenyra to Laenor, effectively designating Laenor as second in line to the throne (after Viserys).

The Great Council is actually at the root of the Dance as it broke out, and that has nothing to do with Jaehaerys. Viserys was Jaehaerys favorite heir anyway, being the eldest son of his chosen heir, Baelon. The buildup for the Dance came from many people including Prince Daemon interpreting the Great Council as stipulating that females and sons of females couldn't inherit at all, forcing Viserys to formally install Rhaenyra as his Heir Apparent if he wanted to prevent Daemon from seizing the throne upon his own premature death. And after that was done Viserys couldn't easily change things in favor of Aegon, even if he wanted to. Especially not after the marriage to Laenor, since that would have offended the Velaryons a third time.

Two Great Councils. Jaehaerys was the one to institute the wobbly inheritance precedences.

 

Jaehaerys prevented a succession war back in 101 AC. His heirs and descendants fucked things up later on. If there is somebody to blame for things it is them, not the Old King.

Enough blame for everybody. All of them have to share it.

[Lord Varys]

BBE,

 

I remember your speculation there, but we have no reason to believe that Maegor believed Visenya was murdered, nor is there any reason to believe that fifteen-year-old Viserys was complicit in any conspiracy against his uncle. Visenya was an old woman, well in her seventies, there is no indication that her death came as a surprise or raised any suspicions. Especially since Yandel outright states that Maegor didn't care all that much about his mother's death. Alyssa and her children could easily have escaped in the wake of Visenya's death. One assumes she kept a tight regiment on the island, and if she was pretty much in charge of everything then her death would have caused confusion as Yandel says, and Alyssa may have been able to slip away in the power vacuum that existed - especially if she had still friends and allies on the island. After all, she was the Queen Dowager, the former queen, and the longtime wife of Aenys I while he was his father's heir.

 

I thought you were talking about Maegor's 'good/better years' up until Visenya's death, and deducing that Viserys was Maegor's heir at that time from the fact that he was his squire. That could actually make some sense, but apparently Maegor did not care about that or the fact that he had no heirs of his own body when he decided to torture and kill Prince Viserys. Aerea only becomes Maegor's heir in 47-8 AC - after Rhaena's marriage to Maegor.

 

Nothing suggests that Maegor was deliberately painted in a bad like by his enemies - if that had been the case then some historians would have tried to do him justice in the later years, highlighting his good character traits and finding explanations or justifications for his actions. Just as you are trying to do right now. But Yandel does not cite any such historians or their works, indicating that none exist or nobody takes them seriously enough to even mention them.

 

NW stuff:

 

Well, this whole thing isn't exactly important in the grand scale of things, but I really don't see Jaehaerys causing a problem, just changing things in a certain directions. Without the New Gift the lands would have depopulated anyway, unless the Northern lords had done something about it - and since they didn't help the NW or their former levies living now in the Ned Gift one has to assume they weren't strong enough. And we don't really know if the NW wouldn't have declined much more quickly without the New Gift - after all, despite it being pretty much depopulated now, there are still some peasants there who support the NW, and the total number of NW levies may be still be bigger with Old and New Gift combined than it was back in the time of Jaehaerys.

 

There was no Great Council in 92 AC. Back then King Jaehaerys I himself decided on his own who his heir should be, and he chose his second surviving son, Prince Baelon, without calling a Great Council. He may have asked Alysanne, Barth, and other close confidants - perhaps even his Small Council - for advice on the matter, but it was the king, and the king alone, who made the decision.

 

The Great Council in 101 AC was the first Great Council in Westerosi history.