The Perfumed Seneschal (spoilers for ACOK,ASOS,AFFC)

[McGuv19]

Firstly I am not sure if this possibility has been discussed elsewhere, but I hope you enjoy reading. I have done a search for Perfumed Seneschal in the forum and nothing related to my theory has come up, so here we go.

Also, if you don’t already know the Perfumed Seneschal was a cryptic warning given to Daenerys Targaryen by Quaithe, a shadowbinder from Asshai. Quaithe tells her to ‘beware the perfumed seneschal’, and my theory is about the identity of said seneschal.

seneschal

/ˈsɛnɪʃ(ə)l/

noun

1. 1. 

   HISTORICAL

   the steward or major-domo of a medieval great house.
2. 2. 

   HISTORICAL

   a governor or other administrative or judicial officer.

    

   In AFFC Chapter 2 (The Captain Of Guards) in the scene where Doran arrives at his court in Sunspear there are people there to greet him. He is greeted by, among others, Seneschal Ricasso and Maester Myles. 

“Princess Arianne was waiting in the outer ward to greet her father, with half the court about her: the old blind seneschal Ricasso, Ser Manfrey Martell the castellan, young Maester Myles with his grey robes and silky perfumed beard, twoscore of Dornish knights in flowing linen of half a hundred hues.”

Ricasso being a ‘seneschal’ immediately sent alarm bells ringing in my head, but there is no indication of him being ‘perfumed’ in any way, he js only old and blind. However Myles, the young maester, is described as having a perfumed beard. I see three possibilities here.

ONE: Ricasso and Myles are working together, thus creating the perfumed seneschal.

This theory states that Myles and Ricasso are working together, to harm Daenerys and/or her dragons in some way. Due to their high-ranking positions at Sunspear the two may well know about Doran’s plan to get Daenerys to come to Westeros. I don’t have a motive for Ricasso as we don’t know enough about him, but I could make some guesses about Myles. Myles is a maester, and may be part of the Citadel’s conspiracy to eradicate magic from the world (if Archmaester Marwyn is right and it exists). If we also believe that the Citadel killed off the last dragons, then they would be pretty eager to polish off Daenerys and her three as well, because she and her dragons are threatening to undo all the work the conspirators have done to rid the world of magic. Furthermore, Marwyn tells Samwell Tarly that Aemon Targaryen was allowed “to waste his life upon the wall” because the archmaesters did not trust dragon’s (Targaryen’s) blood.

If Myles is indeed part of the conspiracy then he would certainly be at odds with Doran’s plan to bring Dany to Westeros.

TWO: Myles is the perfumed seneschal by himself.

Using all the evidence above for Myles being against Daenerys and her dragons we could assume that he is indeed plotting against her, but we have no evidence for Ricasso beyond his title. However, what if Myles is already the perfumed seneschal?

Ricasso is old and blind, so unless he is as awesome as Maester Aemon someone else undoubtedly takes over most or all of his job for him. A likely candidate for this? Maester Myles.

If Myles is helping Ricasso with his job or straight out doing it for him then he could fulfill the requirement of a perfumed seneschal.

THREE: Myles will become the perfumed seneschal in AWOW or ADOS

Again, using the evidence from above, let us say Myles is treacherous. But we could also say Myles cannot be the perfumed seneschal as Ricasso is officially seneschal no matter what. But if Ricasso is somehow bumped off by a Sand Snake (he could have been trying to stop them orchestrating violence) or Myles himself, or just dies naturally (he is described as old and blind so could be in poor health), then his duties may well fall to Maester Myles, making him the perfumed seneschal.

 

[Victor Newman]

Reznak Mo Reznak is the seneschal.  He's the one with ties to the old slavers in Ghis.

[Lady Dacey]

The Selaesori Qhoran (which Tyrion translates as the Frangant Steward, but dubs the Stinky Steward instead) is my bet for the perfumed scenechal... But I guess prophesies and riddled warnings might have several implications and layers of meaning, and even aply to different situations maybe.

[Megorova]

My candidate for the Perfumed seneschal - septa Lemore, possibly real name - Jeyne Swann, possibly fAegon's mother (the father, in my opinion, is Barristan Selmy, who may be a secret dragonseed - I think that Barristan's mother was Aenys Blackfyre's daughter). Could be that Larra Rogare's mother was Johanna Swann, the Black Swan of Lys, who was ruler of Lys in all but name (mentioned in the World book). In F&B book it was mentioned, that Rogares were princes of Lys in all but name, and that they owned Lyseni pleasure house, titled The Perfumed Garden. It's likely, that Johanna, who was a famous courtesan in Lys, was working in The Perfumed Garden. I think, that she was one of Lysandro Rogare's wives, and Larra Rogare's mother (based on the cases of Cleon the Great, King of Astapor, and Lord Aenar Targaryen from Valyria, and some of Dothraki khals, to have several wives, is a norm in Essos). Larra was paternal grandmother of Bittersteel, Bloodraven, Shiera Seastar, Daemon I Blackfyre, King Daeron II Targaryen, and Aegon's IV's numerous bastards. So, if Larra's mother was a Swann, then all of those characters are also carriers of Swann-genes. Which means, that Jeyne Swann is the Perfumed seneschal, because her ancestor, Johanna, was working at the Perfumed Garden. There's two more connections between Perfumed seneschal and septa Lemore/Jeyne Swann.

In "The Hedge Knight" novel there was a scene, in which people of Aerion Brightflame were burning dolls of Lady Jonquil, Florian the Fool, and the mummer's dragon. So, in my opinion, that scene is a foreshadowing of what will happen to Lemore, Barristan, and their son - fAegon, who is the mummer's dragon from Quaithe's warning (the mummer is Varys). Barristan is a parallel to Florian the Fool, because Florian's armor was made of motley (i.e. it was multicolored, like a rainbow). In a song about Jonquil, there was six maids in a pool. Barristan was a Kingsguard of six Monarchs - Aegon V, Jaehaerys II, Aerys II, Robert Baratheon, Joffrey Baratheon, Daenerys Targaryen. So, same as Florian the Fool, Barristan is the greatest knight, and the greatest fool, because it's a great accomplishment, that he was guarding five Kings, but also he's a fool, because all of his proteges died, and not from natural death. It was his duty to protect them, and he failed 5 times. Thru a scene in ADWD Florian is connected to the Perfumed seneschal - while Tyrion and Jorah were sailing on a ship, titled Fragrant Stuart, Tyrion mentioned Florian. When to Dany and her people will be revealed the existence of fAegon, and that Jon Snow is Rhaegar's son, then Barristan will have to swear his allegiance to his seventh and final Monarch (to complete the rainbow from Florian's motley) - either it will be Barristan's son, Aegon the Sixth, or the true King of 7K - Aegon the Seventh/Jon Snow. Probably, that's when Dany will be betrayed for love - the third treason, predicted by the Undying, could be about Barristan, betraying Dany for the sake of his son, fAegon. When Barristan will meet septa Lemore, if my theory about her identity is correct, then he will recognize her. Because he saved her from the Kingswood Brotherhood. I think, that that's when Jeyne gave to Barristan love potion, seduced him, and got pregnant. She got that potion from a septa, that was escorting her thru Kingswood, and I think, that that septa was actually Shiera Seastar in shadow-glamour, and that the attack of the Kingswood Brotherhood was staged, to get Barristan into their trap. They needed pure dragon-blood, and they knew that Barristan is a Blackfyre thru his mother, so Shiera arranged Barristan's encounter with Jeyne, and on that night was conceived fAegon. And it happened on the same night, when in 281AC Rhaegar's Aegon was conceived at King's Landing, and a comet was passing in the sky. Because of that comet, Rhaegar thought, that his Aegon is the Prince that was promised. And Shiera and Lemore thought, that the Promised Prince is their fAegon, Blackfyre.

Jonquil is a flower from the same family as narcissus and daffodil. Daffodils are traditional flowers of Mother Mary. On many icons she has a crown made of 12 stars, or 12 daffodil flowers. In my opinion, the three heads of the dragon from the prophecy is Dany (The Mother), Rhaego (The Son), and Jon (The Holy Ghost), they are a parallel to Biblical Trinity. Rhaego, who is khal of khals, is like the child of the Woman Clothed in the Sun, from the Book of Revelation, who was King of kings and Lord of lords. Jon is Agnus Dei/the Lamb of God, who was killed and then resurrected. And Dany is the mother to one Messiah, and the bride of the other (in the House of the Undying they called her bride of fire, and in the end of the Book of Revelation the Lamb got married with his bride, and the Bible ends with their wedding). So, if those three are true dragons and real saviours, parallels to Mother Mary and Jesus, then fAegon, who is the mummer's dragon, the false dragon, and a fake saviour, is a parallel to Biblical Antichrist, and Varys is a parallel to Satan. So, fAegon's mother, septa Lemore/Lady Jeyne Swann/the Perfumed seneschal is Dany's antagonist, and while Dany's/Mary's flowers are daffodils, Jeyne's flowers are jonquils. And from jonquil oil in Medieval Ages were made perfumes.

Thus, based on those three observations (1. Johanna Swann - Perfumed Garden; 2. Jonquil, Florian, and the mummer's dragon; 3. biblical symbolism of those flowers, and usage of jonquil oil as a basis for perfumes), I think that the Perfumed seneschal is Jeyne Swann/septa Lemore.

[Rose of Red Lake]

Jon. Blue flower, steward, least expected. Done.

[Lost Melnibonean]

On 8/19/2019 at 5:48 AM, McGuv19 said:

Ricasso being a ‘seneschal’ immediately sent alarm bells ringing in my head, but there is no indication of him being ‘perfumed’ in any way, he js only old and blind. However Myles, the young maester, is described as having a perfumed beard. I see three possibilities here.

I appreciate the way you lay out your theory, but I think that calling Ricasso a seneschal is more likely a re herring. Illyrio is the perfumed seneschal. He is the one who has been betraying her for blood all along, and she will know his treason when the dragons dance again.

[Lluewhyn]

On 8/20/2019 at 3:06 PM, Lost Melnibonean said:

I appreciate the way you lay out your theory, but I think that calling Ricasso a seneschal is more likely a re herring. Illyrio is the perfumed seneschal. He is the one who has been betraying her for blood all along, and she will know his treason when the dragons dance again.

How dare you theorize something that thematically makes sense as opposed to just being an obscure easter egg?

I'm going with Illyrio for my #1 pick, with Varys as a #2, although Illyrio has more direct connection with Daenerys for her to even be in a position to trust him.

The "Stinky Steward" is just GRRM being deliberately comical with a red herring.