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Maegor's Kingsguard


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Maegor's Kingsguard is unique in its regional concentration. With the exception of Olyver Bracken (and possibly Owen Bush) all of Maegor's Kingsguard were either from the Crownlands or the Vale. What's interesting about this is the fact we also know there was a chapterhouse of the Warrior's Sons in Gulltown that apparently did nothing of note during the entire Faith Militant Uprising. Furthermore, no opposition by the smallfolk or nobility in the Vale is recorded despite the Vale being where the Andals first landed in Westeros. Why? Surely, it can't all be goodwill for bringing Jonos Arryn to some semblance of justice?

Alyssa Velaryon described Maegor's Kingsguard as being made up of "old men, lickspittles, cravens, and brutes" but does that hold up? The only Kingsguard explicitly said to be elderly is Harrold Langward. Furthermore, three of his Kingsguard (Davos Darklyn, ???, ???) died in battle and two (Olyver Bracken, Raymund Mallery) deserted him, neither of which are easy decisions to make. Beyond that there's also the fact that four of his Kingsguard (Olyver Bracken, Raymund Mallery, Jon Tollet, Symond Crayne) are not recorded as having actually done anything wrong whilst serving Maegor unlike Owen Bush and Maladon Moore. Finally, would a man like Maegor "the Cruel" Targaryen want and deliberately choose old men or cowards to be his bodyguards? (Won't get into Jaehaerys I's hypocritical double standards here.)

Speaking of Harrold Langward, it is interesting that Gyldayn notes not only his advanced age but also that he chose a third option. Might he have been a holdover from Aenys or even Aegon I's reign and his request for trial by battle a way for him to commit suicide by cop or soothe his conscience after suffering career burnout?

Given the fact one of Maegor's opponents in his trial by seven was Lyle Bracken, how and why did Olyver end up taking a white cloak? Was he a holdover from Aenys or Aegon I? Was it to make him an unofficial hostage? Was he estranged from his family or from a lesser branch perhaps? (As an aside I'm kind of disappointed GRRM didn't take the time to elaborate in F & B on Maegor taking Coldmoat from the Osgreys or what form the Bracken-Blackwood feud took in the context of a religious conflict.)

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1 hour ago, The Grey Wolf Strikes Back said:

Addendum: How exactly is Maladon guilty of having a "queen's blood" on his hands? Surely, no one, least of all Jaehaerys himself, saw Maegor's marriage to Tyanna (and therefore her queenship) as actually being legitimate?

I think it's quite clear Jaehaerys just wanted to get rid of Maegor's Kingsguards and used any pretext he could get. 

In the end all of the Kingsguard knights would have been guilty of this or that (as it is when you have to obey a bad king). Maegor did so many terrible things and his most trusted bodyguards must have been part of that.

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5 hours ago, The Grey Wolf Strikes Back said:

Maegor's Kingsguard is unique in its regional concentration. With the exception of Olyver Bracken (and possibly Owen Bush) all of Maegor's Kingsguard were either from the Crownlands or the Vale. What's interesting about this is the fact we also know there was a chapterhouse of the Warrior's Sons in Gulltown that apparently did nothing of note during the entire Faith Militant Uprising. Furthermore, no opposition by the smallfolk or nobility in the Vale is recorded despite the Vale being where the Andals first landed in Westeros. Why? Surely, it can't all be goodwill for bringing Jonos Arryn to some semblance of justice?

It might be that Maegor was fairly popular in the Vale following the rise of Hubert Arryn and the role he played to end Jonos' rebellion together with Allard Royce.

5 hours ago, The Grey Wolf Strikes Back said:

Alyssa Velaryon described Maegor's Kingsguard as being made up of "old men, lickspittles, cravens, and brutes" but does that hold up? The only Kingsguard explicitly said to be elderly is Harrold Langward. Furthermore, three of his Kingsguard (Davos Darklyn, ???, ???) died in battle and two (Olyver Bracken, Raymund Mallery) deserted him, neither of which are easy decisions to make. Beyond that there's also the fact that four of his Kingsguard (Olyver Bracken, Raymund Mallery, Jon Tollet, Symond Crayne) are not recorded as having actually done anything wrong whilst serving Maegor unlike Owen Bush and Maladon Moore. Finally, would a man like Maegor "the Cruel" Targaryen want and deliberately choose old men or cowards to be his bodyguards? (Won't get into Jaehaerys I's hypocritical double standards here.)

I'd expect that she viewed all the men as 'craven' who didn't have the stones to stand with Aegon the Uncrowned against Maegor. They all showed what scum they were when they followed Visenya and Maegor. Mallery and Bracken are also craven in the sense that they tried to defect to the winning side. Hardly the sign of a loyal and brave Kingsguard.

Around a madman like Maegor only lickspittles would rise to high office and keep their heads, so one can also assume that this was a defining trait of his inner circle. The brutes we know, and some of the above might also have been old men ... although it is also possible that Davos Darklyn was another old guy.

5 hours ago, The Grey Wolf Strikes Back said:

Speaking of Harrold Langward, it is interesting that Gyldayn notes not only his advanced age but also that he chose a third option. Might he have been a holdover from Aenys or even Aegon I's reign and his request for trial by battle a way for him to commit suicide by cop or soothe his conscience after suffering career burnout?

I don't know if King Aenys appointed any Kingsguard. We don't hear anything about that, nor to we hear that any KG die during his reign. The KG don't seem to be involved in the early rebellions, and when Aenys and his family are attacked in their manse the KG who no longer is Raymont Baratheon may or may not have died. If he died then chances are pretty low that Aenys bothered to name a successor before his death.

In that sense, chances are pretty high that the 'old men' are all leftovers from the reign of the Conqueror.

It is possible that some old guy also died of natural causes during the reign of Aenys and was then replaced by him, but if that's the case then we don't know anything about that.

5 hours ago, The Grey Wolf Strikes Back said:

Given the fact one of Maegor's opponents in his trial by seven was Lyle Bracken, how and why did Olyver end up taking a white cloak? Was he a holdover from Aenys or Aegon I? Was it to make him an unofficial hostage? Was he estranged from his family or from a lesser branch perhaps? (As an aside I'm kind of disappointed GRRM didn't take the time to elaborate in F & B on Maegor taking Coldmoat from the Osgreys or what form the Bracken-Blackwood feud took in the context of a religious conflict.)

I'm not sure that this has to have much effect. When you join the Warrior's Sons or the Poor Fellows you cut your ties with your family like you do when you take the black, become a maester, etc. There isn't even an indication that Lyle's family wanted him to join the Warrior's Sons. Lyle Bracken the Warrior's Son fighting against Maegor doesn't mean House Bracken does not want to stand with House Targaryen in general and, eventually, King Maegor specifically. Keep in mind that the Faith Militant fought against all the Targaryens, and theirs was a movement supported by only a tiny fraction of the nobility. The idea that a house would stand with the Faith just because one of their own was a Warrior's Son isn't very high. There may have also been Tyrells and Tullys among the Warrior's Son in that era.

4 hours ago, The Grey Wolf Strikes Back said:

Addendum: How exactly is Maladon guilty of having a "queen's blood" on his hands? Surely, no one, least of all Jaehaerys himself, saw Maegor's marriage to Tyanna (and therefore her queenship) as actually being legitimate?

Maegor's queens were treated as queens after his death. Queen Rhaena and Queen Elinor both got their queenly titles because they had been Maegor's wives. Jaehaerys I certainly did not approve of polygamy, but he never declared any of those marriages invalid. It would have been rather difficult with Tyanna's marriage and the black brides, anyway. Septons officiated at those weddings, with the High Septon himself coming to KL for the black brides wedding.

13 minutes ago, The Grey Wolf Strikes Back said:

@The Wondering Wolf

You'd think that would be mentioned but it isn't. Ditto re bad kings like Aegon II, Aegon IV, and Aerys II.

We do have explanation for the situation after the death of Aegon II. Only two of his KG are allowed to serve Aegon III, and Fell didn't do anything of substance during the war while Waters was only named after Aegon II's restoration. And that was also the case for Gyles Belgrave and the three KG that were sent to the Wall. The fact that they were only named to the KG at the very end of the war implies very few people would have blamed them for much of the fighting.

That said - it is quite clear that Cregan Stark used a similar pretext as Jaehaerys I to cleanse the Kingsguard of folks he did not want to serve Aegon III. And one can imagine that he would have also found a way to get rid of Waters and Fell if he had run the regency government of the young king.

About Aegon IV's KG we have so far no details ... but we can expect, I think, that Daeron II may have cleansed his order in a similar manner.

With only two of Aerys' Seven surviving the war, Robert didn't have much cleansing to do. Pardoning Barristan was a good thing, but Jaime should have been executed or sent to the Wall.

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7 hours ago, The Grey Wolf Strikes Back said:

@The Wondering Wolf

You'd think that would be mentioned but it isn't. Ditto re bad kings like Aegon II, Aegon IV, and Aerys II.

I think it is actually implied. Every time Maegor wanted to deal with members of his court, he sent his Kingsguards. And at least in the case of the Harroways it seems they participated in the killing. In the eyes of Jaehaerys all of them would have been guilty for accepting Maegor as their king and serving him. There was nothing they could have done to prevent punishment.

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2 hours ago, Black of Hair and Heart said:

 It also seems odd that even though Martin goes out of his way to name all seven of Maegor's final Kingsguard and detail all of their fates, he never says which one of them is Lord Commander.

My gut feeling would be that Ser Davos Darklyn was Lord Commander when he he was slain beneath the Gods Eye, considering he was the KG who was charged with marshaling and leading an army. That's a task you would give to your KG in charge.

The Lord Commander at the time of Maegor's death could have been Ser Owen Bush. He is the most prominent of Maegor's KG throughout his reign, and the one in charge of things whenever he is mentioned. The fact that he was murdered shortly before Maegor's own death could explain that there was apparently no Lord Commander of the Kingsguard when Jaehaerys came to KL.

Because in light of the detailed description in the early Jaehaerys chapters it would be rather odd to assume that there was still a Lord Commander around the king had to deal with. And this guy would have been punished more harshly than the others considering he would have been the one in charge of Maegor's KG and thus the guy overseeing and directing the crimes of the others.

But that's all just speculation.

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