Who killed more people? Gregor Clegane or the Serpentine Steps?

[Daendrew]

Look at all these Serpentine kills identified by Reddit user ShmedStark

The serpentine steps in the Red Keep are one of the deadliest things in Fire & Blood.

They broke Queen Alysanne's hip:

Climbing hills became a trial to her, and in 95 AC she slipped and fell on the serpentine steps, breaking her hip. Thereafter she walked with a cane.

They killed Grand Maester Mellos:

Death visited the court again a short time later, when Grand Maester Mellos collapsed one night whilst he was climbing the serpentine steps.

Queen Alicent was captured on them while two of her guards were slain:

Queen Alicent was arrested on the serpentine steps as she made her way back to her chambers. Her captors wore the seahorse of House Velaryon upon their doublets, and though they slew the two men guarding her, they did no harm to the Dowager Queen herself, nor to her ladies. The Queen in Chains was chained again and taken to the dungeons, there to await the pleasure of the new king.

They murdered the great Corlys Velaryon:

For all these reasons, the realm suffered a terrible blow on the sixth day of the third moon of 132 AC, when Corlys Velaryon, Lord of the Tides, collapsed whilst ascending the serpentine steps in the Red Keep of King's Landing. By the time Grand Maester Munkun came rushing to his aid, the Sea Snake was dead.

And they broke little Falena Stokeworth's leg:

Pretty Falena Stokeworth, a vivacious girl of eight who had sometimes played at dolls with the little queen, took a tumble down the serpentine steps and broke her leg

In the main series, Sansa had a close call on them:

She was racing headlong down the serpentine steps when a man lurched out of a hidden doorway. Sansa caromed into him and lost her balance. Iron fingers caught her by the wrist before she could fall, and a deep voice rasped at her. "It's a long roll down the serpentine, little bird. Want to kill us both?" His laughter was rough as a saw on stone. "Maybe you do." (Sansa II, ACOK)

People were killed on them during the Sack of King's Landing:

"The castle is ours, ser, and the city," Roland Crakehall told him, which was half true. Targaryen loyalists were still dying on the serpentine steps and in the armory, Gregor Clegane and Amory Lorch were scaling the walls of Maegor's Holdfast, and Ned Stark was leading his northmen through the King's Gate even then, but Crakehall could not have known that. (Jaime II, ASOS)

And, worst of all, Dontos barfed on them:

The bells were ringing out across the city, more and more of them joining in. She kept her head down and stayed in the shadows, close behind Dontos. While descending the serpentine steps he stumbled to his knees and retched. My poor Florian, she thought, as he wiped his mouth with a floppy sleeve. (Sansa V, ASOS)

I would recommend avoiding those snaky steps whenever possible. They have a bad history.

Honorable mention to this flight of stairs in the Starry Sept of Oldtown:

None of this was known on Westeros at the time, however, and soon enough King Jaehaerys had a fresh concern. In the Starry Sept of Oldtown, the High Septon had collapsed whilst ascending a flight of steps to his bedchamber. He was dead before he reached the bottom. All across the realm, bells in every sept sang a dolorous song. The Father of the Faithful had gone to join the Seven.

 

 

[Seams]

Instead of comparing the serpentine steps to Clegane, maybe we should compare the kill tally from the steps with the number of people who died or were gravely injured attempting to become dragon riders.

Or maybe we should compare the steps to tunnels and hidden chambers in Maegor's Holdfast, under the dragon pit, the tunnels of Gendel and Gorne, etc. People get lost in tunnels and die fairly often.

Springwatch made the initial point that the Serpentine Steps seem to be a key location in a giant game of Chutes and Ladders (Snakes and Ladders in Europe). When you realize that snakes and chutes have the same function in the two versions of the game, one of GRRM's games of thrones becomes more apparent: people on the Serpentine Steps are players in the Game of Thrones.

3 hours ago, Daendrew said:

Climbing hills became a trial to her, and in 95 AC she slipped and fell on the serpentine steps, breaking her hip. Thereafter she walked with a cane.

This is significant, too. Very few people suffer leg injuries in ASOIAF. We see a lot of people lose an eye, an ear, fingers, half a hand, part of an arm. Rorge and Tyrion (and possibly Jane Poole) lose their noses. Numerous people are beheaded or have their bellies slit. It seems that comparatively few suffer leg injuries. Ned suffers a compound break after Jaime attacks him and his horse falls on him. He uses a cane to get around after that. Jon Snow is shot in the leg with an arrow shot by Ygritte. Bran loses the ability to walk. A fairly exclusive group. Interesting that Alysanne is part of this small club.

3 hours ago, Daendrew said:

Pretty Falena Stokeworth, a vivacious girl of eight who had sometimes played at dolls with the little queen, took a tumble down the serpentine steps and broke her leg

House Stokeworth is closely associated with the Serpentine Steps. I think they are symbolic of control of the Red Keep. Bronn climbs the steps and then marries Lollys and becomes head of House Stokeworth. There is a connection there, but it needs more exploration. I haven't yet read Fire & Blood, but I suspect the injury to Falena Stokeworth might be symbolic of the gradual decline of House Targaryen - the beginning of the madness and infighting, perhaps.

[ravenous reader]

13 hours ago, Daendrew said:

Look at all these Serpentine kills identified by Reddit user ShmedStark

The serpentine steps in the Red Keep are one of the deadliest things in Fire & Blood.

They broke Queen Alysanne's hip:

Climbing hills became a trial to her, and in 95 AC she slipped and fell on the serpentine steps, breaking her hip. Thereafter she walked with a cane.

They killed Grand Maester Mellos:

Death visited the court again a short time later, when Grand Maester Mellos collapsed one night whilst he was climbing the serpentine steps.

Queen Alicent was captured on them while two of her guards were slain:

Queen Alicent was arrested on the serpentine steps as she made her way back to her chambers. Her captors wore the seahorse of House Velaryon upon their doublets, and though they slew the two men guarding her, they did no harm to the Dowager Queen herself, nor to her ladies. The Queen in Chains was chained again and taken to the dungeons, there to await the pleasure of the new king.

They murdered the great Corlys Velaryon:

For all these reasons, the realm suffered a terrible blow on the sixth day of the third moon of 132 AC, when Corlys Velaryon, Lord of the Tides, collapsed whilst ascending the serpentine steps in the Red Keep of King's Landing. By the time Grand Maester Munkun came rushing to his aid, the Sea Snake was dead.

And they broke little Falena Stokeworth's leg:

Pretty Falena Stokeworth, a vivacious girl of eight who had sometimes played at dolls with the little queen, took a tumble down the serpentine steps and broke her leg

In the main series, Sansa had a close call on them:

She was racing headlong down the serpentine steps when a man lurched out of a hidden doorway. Sansa caromed into him and lost her balance. Iron fingers caught her by the wrist before she could fall, and a deep voice rasped at her. "It's a long roll down the serpentine, little bird. Want to kill us both?" His laughter was rough as a saw on stone. "Maybe you do." (Sansa II, ACOK)

People were killed on them during the Sack of King's Landing:

"The castle is ours, ser, and the city," Roland Crakehall told him, which was half true. Targaryen loyalists were still dying on the serpentine steps and in the armory, Gregor Clegane and Amory Lorch were scaling the walls of Maegor's Holdfast, and Ned Stark was leading his northmen through the King's Gate even then, but Crakehall could not have known that. (Jaime II, ASOS)

And, worst of all, Dontos barfed on them:

The bells were ringing out across the city, more and more of them joining in. She kept her head down and stayed in the shadows, close behind Dontos. While descending the serpentine steps he stumbled to his knees and retched. My poor Florian, she thought, as he wiped his mouth with a floppy sleeve. (Sansa V, ASOS)

I would recommend avoiding those snaky steps whenever possible. They have a bad history.

Honorable mention to this flight of stairs in the Starry Sept of Oldtown:

None of this was known on Westeros at the time, however, and soon enough King Jaehaerys had a fresh concern. In the Starry Sept of Oldtown, the High Septon had collapsed whilst ascending a flight of steps to his bedchamber. He was dead before he reached the bottom. All across the realm, bells in every sept sang a dolorous song. The Father of the Faithful had gone to join the Seven.

 

 

Cersei thinks of having a heart attack when climbing the steps in the Tower of the Hand to her dead father, Tywin:

Quote

A Feast for Crows - Cersei I

Within the tower, the smoke from the torches irritated her eyes, but Cersei did not weep, no more than her father would have. I am the only true son he ever had. Her heels scraped against the stone as she climbed, and she could still hear the moth fluttering wildly inside Ser Osmund's lantern. Die, the queen thought at it, in irritation, fly into the flame and be done with it.

Two more red-cloaked guardsmen stood atop the steps. Red Lester muttered a condolence as she passed. The queen's breath was coming fast and short, and she could feel her heart fluttering in her chest. The steps, she told herself, this cursed tower has too many steps. She had half a mind to tear it down.

The hall was full of fools speaking in whispers, as if Lord Tywin were asleep and they were afraid to wake him. Guards and servants alike shrank back before her, mouths flapping. She saw their pink gums and waggling tongues, but their words made no more sense than the buzzing of the moth. What are they doing here? How did they know? 

The sense of disorientation and people whispering, speaking in unknown tongues, is an allegory for greenseeing, as is the moth spiraling to its fiery death-- but then, I think everything can be symbolically decoded as a greenseeing reference!  A bit more on that later...

Her grandfather Lord Tytos Lannister's heart failed when he was climbing some steps:

Quote

Her grandfather had died when she was only a year old, but she knew the story. Lord Tytos had grown very fat, and his heart burst one day when he was climbing the steps to his mistress. Her father was off in King's Landing when it happened, serving as the Mad King's Hand. Lord Tywin was often away in King's Landing when she and Jaime were young. If he wept when they brought him word of his father's death, he did it where no one could see the tears.

Areo Hotah also thinks of his heart stopping during the ritual on the 'Sinner's Steps'...

Quote

AFFC The Captain of Guards

As he honed the axe, Hotah thought of Norvos, the high city on the hill and the low beside the river. He could still recall the sounds of the three bells, the way that Noom's deep peals set his very bones to shuddering, the proud strong voice of Narrah, sweet Nyel's silvery laughter. The taste of wintercake filled his mouth again, rich with ginger and pine nuts and bits of cherry, with nahsa to wash it down, fermented goat's milk served in an iron cup and laced with honey. He saw his mother in her dress with the squirrel collar, the one she wore but once each year, when they went to see the bears dance down the Sinner's Steps. And he smelled the stench of burning hair as the bearded priest touched the brand to the center of his chest. The pain had been so fierce that he thought his heart might stop, yet Areo Hotah had not flinched. The hair had never grown back over the axe.

What do you make of 'Sinner's Steps'?

Steps as temptation, transgression, hubris.

Here's another Hand tempting death with his escapades. Note, the spelling of 'steppes':

Quote

He rode through the streets of the city

Down from his hill on high

O'er the winds and the steppes and the cobble

He rode to a woman's sigh

For she was his secret treasure

She was his shame and his bliss...

Every flight (of stairs..? ) begins with a fall...

Fitting here, @Leo of House Cartel's excellent pun STAIRS STARES, to which I might add STARS, linking the stairway to heaven to the greenseers staring/stairing into the past & through another set of eyes. He also noted that the Dothraki 'steppes' is another name for the Dothraki Sea, which ties in nicely with my greensea/greensee pun!

I also like @Seams's pun on SCALES, whereby dragonscale might be read as a step/overlapping steps (this is also reminiscent of Valyrian steel and the 'one-but-overwrinkled' motif) -- so that mounting a dragon might be like climbing or 'scaling a flight' of stairs, and, thereby, well... taking flight.

So, scaling serpentine steps is about flying -- including dragonriding, as well as climbing and riding a tree (weirwood as Yggdrasil-Sleipneir world tree), i.e. greenseeing.

'Scales' might also have associated connotations of (in)justice; in other words, a moral dimension, as was hinted with 'Sinner's Steps'. 

Love this whole topic!