Incorporating the Maegyrs

[Angel Eyes]

So this grew from a post by @BlackLightning on the Rant and Rave thread about the relatively clumsy setup for Talisa Maegyr in the show. Perhaps they weren't brought up in the later half because the showrunners believed that Talisa was unpopular to the fans (which she probably is) and was best left mostly forgotten about.

Part of original post:

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The Talisa Maegyr thing was a mess. But it still could've been salvaged if we saw House Maegyr come back (in a big way) in the Essos stories (Dany, Tyrion or Arya...but especially Tyrion). If they popped up at Winterfell during season 7 (or even if Sansa reached out to them in season 6), it would've given Littlefinger and the Starks something to do in Winterfell that wasn't completely idiotic or inexplicable.

In the show, Volantis, Talisa's home city comes up a few times; Tyrion spends some time there with Varys in Season 5 as a stop-off to Meereen before Jorah kidnaps him, Theon and Yara pass through Volantis on their way to Meereen, and one of the backers of the Sons of the Harpy, Belicho, is from Volantis. Robb's marriage to Talisa is a sore point for Robett Glover, denouncing her as a "foreign whore" who brought about Robb's downfall. The Lord of Light has a presence in the city as well.

Now what would be a good way to bring the Maegyrs into the second half of the show? Mine would be to bring Talisa's brother into the story, the one who nearly drowned. He has learned of his sister's fate and in Season 7, he comes to Winterfell to claim her bones. His presence bothers the Northern lords due to his foreign birth and connection to Talisa. The other complication he brings would be of the consequences of Daenerys in Essos; say his parents opposed Belicho and the Sons of the Harpy but one or both wound up being collateral damage. On a personal level, he throws a wrench into Littlefinger's plans to take Sansa for himself; perhaps there is a rivalry there due to the cities their ancestors hail from... or for Sansa's hand (really, Sansa hasn't had anybody vying for her hand in the last two season except for Littlefinger). Sansa could be attracted to him as a reminder of the sister-in-law she never knew but hesitant due to her own romantic tribulations (who wouldn't?), while his background again angers the Northern lords. Arya, after arriving back in Winterfell, would be curious about him as a reminder of the brother she'd lost.

Unfortunately I can only really do this for Season 7, still working out Season 8.

 

[EggBlue]

On 8/6/2022 at 8:38 PM, Angel Eyes said:

Unfortunately I can only really do this for Season 7, still working out Season 8.

 

it's ok . even the showrunners couldn't work out season 8

[BlackLightning]

Honestly, the show really fked up the Free Cities plotlines. The omission of the fAegon plotline played a direct part in the show's failure in its last two seasons. So many missed opportunities for Arya, Tyrion and Dany's character arcs and it makes Robb's union with Talisa pointless. 

Like I remember a couple scenes in the show where Talisa is writing home to her family to first announce that she has married a king and then announce that they are expecting their first child.

There was nothing at all.

I would've started back in season 2 or 3 by mentioning that the Maegyr family is a very wealthy Volantene family. There actually is a Maegyr in A Song of Ice and Fire. Malaquo Maegyr is one of the ruling triarchs of Volantis (Volantis is a republican democracy, by the way)

I would've made Malaquo her father. And I would have it so that she had a mother -- let's call her Myriah -- and two brothers. A younger and an elder with the younger having been the one who had been saved by the slave.

Season 5

• We would hear nothing about House Maegyr in season 4. But I would've had the Maegyr family come back in season 5. I would've had it so that they would've met Tyrion and Jorah. They would've been the ones that Jorah and Tyrion got their ship from. I would've made it the elder son Drako a minor antagonist of Tyrion. After giving them the ship that they need to get to Meereen, I'd have him first try to buy Tyrion off Jorah and then try to steal him away from Jorah with a game of cyvasse. Drako cheats to win but he is exposed and embarrassed by Tyrion. When he tries to resort to violence, he is then overpowered...again by Jorah. Before they'd leave, an angry Tyrion would tell him the truth of the Red Wedding and how his sister died to spite him

Season 6

• Part of the family would appear in Meereen as a part of the anti-slavery coalition that was undermining the city. But I would make it so that the father Malaquo and the elder brother Drako was the one who was there. Malaquo would be killed but Drako would be spared...at the cost of the entire family's assets. Meanwhile, Talisa's younger brother Qaleb and Talisa's mother Myriah would appear in the Theon/Yara section of season 6. Learning that the Ironborn are in the city, Myriah would seek out the Greyjoys and ask for confirmation/details about the Red Wedding. Theon would tell the truth, thus getting him to wrap his mind around the tragedy. 

Season 7

• Myriah Maegyr and her sons would then show up unannounced at Winterfell with a small group of sellswords (let's say they show up with the Windblown) and a fairly large amount of food and supplies. Their sudden arrival causes quite the fuss because the northmen think it an invading army. I would have it so that they show up shortly after Arya does. Ostensibly, the Maegyrs have come to collect Talisa's bones and the bride price that the family was supposed to be paid...but in truth, they are looking for a new home as Daenerys Targaryen's abolitionism has totally destroyed their finances. The brothers in particular demand justice for Talisa's murderers. As it so happens, the Stark sisters played a key role in the fall of the Freys and the Boltons.
• I love @Angel Eyes's idea about having it so that Talisa's brother and Littlefinger become rivals for Sansa's attention. Except I would have it so that the elder brother becomes interested in Arya instead of Sansa: Arya and Drako bond over life in the Free Cities and their shared bloodlust (Drako would think it so cool that Arya killed the Freys) while going back-and-forth about the concept of slavery. Drako and Littlefinger would hate each other: part of it will be due to the rivalry between Braavos and Volantis and the other part due to Littlefinger's business dealings.
• Sansa, in the meantime, would be bothered by the presumptions and overreach of the Maegyrs (as well as the financial strain that their visit is bringing upon them) as any other highborn lady would be. As Bran is the Lord of Winterfell, he has the final say and he has overruled Sansa in the matter of hosting the Maegyrs. But Sansa would be uncomfortably reminded of how slavery in Essos sounds a lot like her marriage to Ramsay. She also would be jealous of how Arya is so very obviously being courted. She would eventually become suspicious of Myriah Maegyr what with her strange Volantene habits. She would eventually come to be suspicious that Talisa had bewitched Robb into marrying her, thus making Talisa partially responsible for the Red Wedding. THIS would be the principal reason of how Sansa and Arya come into conflict: Arya thinks Sansa is being controlling and crazy while Sansa thinks that Arya is jeopardizing the family for stupid, selfish reasons. Littlefinger would be pitting them all against each other as he'd be planting false evidence for Sansa to find and feeding Arya half-truths. One such half-truth would be about Sansa's attraction to Drako.
• Bran, in the meantime, proves to be a very good host despite his icy-but-still-kind, slightly detached nature. He would be getting acquainted with the younger brother who -- as it were -- became a follower of R'hllor. Lots of interesting meta discussions about ice and fire, about magic, about history. Bran also gets approached by the leader of the Windblown, the Tattered Prince, who is trying to convince him to give him Pentos. More on that later.
• Bran misunderstands Sansa and Arya's spat up until Drako goes to him with a complaint that makes him probe deeper into the issue. This is where Littlefinger's downfall occurs.
• Littlefinger dies
• Jon and Dany would marry in the season finale of season 7.

 

If I was to incorporate fAegon plotline into this: in my head-version of a TV show canon, I'd have fAegon appear and play a part in this story. For example, I would make it so that Talisa had a sister who was the wife of the Golden Company's treasurer. This sister (we'll call her Calla) would be with Aegon in the south as part of his Small Council while the other brothers primarily interact with the Starks in the North.

I'll do Season 8 later

[C.T. Phipps]

Frankly, I think Talisa was such a badly conceived character that I am glad we never have any follow up on her. Jeyne Westerling was an interesting character even in her uninteresting-ness. Talisa seems to have been created to "modernize" the romance with Robb Stark and provide a plucky girl that was more suitable to audience's perceived tastes.

[EggBlue]

7 minutes ago, C.T. Phipps said:

Frankly, I think Talisa was such a badly conceived character that I am glad we never have any follow up on her. Jeyne Westerling was an interesting character even in her uninteresting-ness. Talisa seems to have been created to "modernize" the romance with Robb Stark and provide a plucky girl that was more suitable to audience's perceived tastes.

which ironically didn't work! I remember every show fan I knew ,including me, thought she should be up to something because she was so out of place as an Essossi noble woman who somehow became a nurse in the middle of a war in Westeros