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How is that House Peake still exists?


rotting sea cow

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I've been re-reading the D&E tales after a long time. I never took them too seriously and I think I was wrong. Sure, they don't have the complex plot of the main series but this makes them even better. They are fantastic material.

One thing baffled me after reading The Mystery Knight is: How is that House Peake still survives?

Think about it. In the aftermath of the First Blackfyre Rebellion, House Peake lost two of their three castles as punishment for supporting the Black Dragon. Nevertheless, they were the chief organizers of the Tourney at Whitewalls where they would attempt to make the Second Blackfyre Rebellion. Lord Butterwell as a host lost his castle and holdings, almost all his fortune and barely kept his head on his shoulders. We haven't heard about the Butterwells ever since.

Sure, Gormon Peake lost his head, but apparently no punishment similar to the Butterwells was applied to his family and holdings and we know that Bloodraven, who calling the shots, wasn't a merciful guy.  Later on, they raised again in the Peake Uprising were King Maekar himseld lost his life as well as several other notables. They were still allowed to keep their holdings.

What is going on?

 

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30 minutes ago, rotting sea cow said:

I've been re-reading the D&E tales after a long time. I never took them too seriously and I think I was wrong. Sure, they don't have the complex plot of the main series but this makes them even better. They are fantastic material.

One thing baffled me after reading The Mystery Knight is: How is that House Peake still survives?

Think about it. In the aftermath of the First Blackfyre Rebellion, House Peake lost two of their three castles as punishment for supporting the Black Dragon. Nevertheless, they were the chief organizers of the Tourney at Whitewalls where they would attempt to make the Second Blackfyre Rebellion. Lord Butterwell as a host lost his castle and holdings, almost all his fortune and barely kept his head on his shoulders. We haven't heard about the Butterwells ever since.

Sure, Gormon Peake lost his head, but apparently no punishment similar to the Butterwells was applied to his family and holdings and we know that Bloodraven, who calling the shots, wasn't a merciful guy.  Later on, they raised again in the Peake Uprising were King Maekar himseld lost his life as well as several other notables. They were still allowed to keep their holdings.

What is going on?

 

It’s a good question. Honestly, the idea of the Peake Uprising seems really bizarre to me. How could one noble house expect to triumph against the King on the Iron Throne and all the rest of Westeros? And moreover, we’re not talking about a boy king who is a bookish child. This is King Maekar Targaryen, who’s got Robert’s physique and about half of Stannis’s personality. This isn’t a king to be trifled with. What were the Peakes trying to accomplish?

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56 minutes ago, rotting sea cow said:

I've been re-reading the D&E tales after a long time. I never took them too seriously and I think I was wrong. Sure, they don't have the complex plot of the main series but this makes them even better. They are fantastic material.

One thing baffled me after reading The Mystery Knight is: How is that House Peake still survives?

Think about it. In the aftermath of the First Blackfyre Rebellion, House Peake lost two of their three castles as punishment for supporting the Black Dragon. Nevertheless, they were the chief organizers of the Tourney at Whitewalls where they would attempt to make the Second Blackfyre Rebellion. Lord Butterwell as a host lost his castle and holdings, almost all his fortune and barely kept his head on his shoulders. We haven't heard about the Butterwells ever since.

Sure, Gormon Peake lost his head, but apparently no punishment similar to the Butterwells was applied to his family and holdings and we know that Bloodraven, who calling the shots, wasn't a merciful guy.  Later on, they raised again in the Peake Uprising were King Maekar himseld lost his life as well as several other notables. They were still allowed to keep their holdings.

What is going on?

I guess the answer to that question is going to be that none of Gormon Peake's relations (most notably his heir, whoever that might be) wasn't at Whitewalls. If said guy was a distant relation - a nephew or cousin, say - then King Aerys I wouldn't have had any good pretext to attaint whoever he was. The same would also go if he was a son or brother who had convincingly distanced himself from his father's machinations.

I'd be surprised, by the way, if it turned out that Egg misremembered and Lord Unwin Peake was the one who lost the first castle later during the reign of Aegon III with Gormon only losing the second after the Redgrass Field.

I expect that the Peakes are also involved in the Third Blackfyre Rebellion and, whatever punishment they get after that war, causes them to rebel on their own later on. Although that rebellion must have its own story to make sense. I'd not be surprised if Maekar was facing in his last year after Aerion's death, especially if it turned out that Egg's influence at court was on the rise and he was convincing his father to implement the first of the reforms he would later continue to push as king. That could have emboldened houses like the Peakes who may have thought the king would lack the strength to put them down immediately.

The reason why the Peakes were not attainted in 233 AC is implicitly given in the longer version of the story in the full Westerlands history - the Red Lion butchered a lot of captured Peakes before Egg could get into the castle and restore order. This likely caused him to make amends to the house and ensure that the last Peake (or one of the last Peakes) was allowed to succeed to Starpike.

In fact, my suggestion is that the Titus Peake married to Margot Lannister was one of the survivors of 233 AC (or a son from the guy surviving it) who was made a ward of Lord Gerold Lannister to ensure his future loyalty - and subsequently married to a Lannister himself.

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