Time flowed like water, and another month passed in the blink of an eye.
During this month, the political winds of Westeros shifted dramatically, and the war in Slaver's Bay gradually approached its climax.
First, Westeros.
Tommen's death had no effect on Dany whatsoever. Whether Arya emerged from hiding or Euron plotted for the Iron Throne, none of it had anything to do with her.But the king's death had immense consequences for the people of the Seven Kingdoms and for the political situation across Westeros.
King's Landing was thrown into yet another wave of turmoil. Cersei intended to crown herself the rightful queen of the Seven Kingdoms, but the High Sparrow would not allow it.
By now, the Lannisters' usurpation of the Baratheon throne was as obvious as Sima Zhao's heart, known to every passerby.
Everyone understood that Emperor Joffrey and King Tommen were lions wearing Baratheon hides, the illegitimate children of Cersei and Jaime.
Because Tommen was young, his political presence had always been weak. The commonfolk and nobles disliked Cersei, but they had grown accustomed to enduring her endless, self-destructive rule.
Therefore, Cersei crowning herself in Game of Thrones was not entirely unrealistic.
After all, she had been acting as regent for years. Tommen was a Lannister anyway, and the royal house was already in such decay that her becoming queen did not make the kingdom worse than it already was.Views like this were quite common among both the commonfolk and the nobility.
Thus, Cersei declaring herself queen did not cause too much of an uproar in King's Landing.
However, Westeros had a long-standing custom: only a king recognized by the Faith and crowned personally by the High Septon was considered truly legitimate.
If Dany seized the Iron Throne, she would have to kneel before the High Sparrow, who would place the crown on her head.
Even Aegon the Conqueror knelt.
Ordinarily, whenever a king, queen, prince, princess, or one of the Seven Great Lords met the High Septon inside the Great Sept of Baelor, they were required to kneel and kiss his hand.
Dany could not tolerate this, so she created a High Septon position for herself. When faced with an unacceptable rule, one must either change or abolish it, or change oneself and become a beneficiary of that rule.
Clearly, becoming a beneficiary was simpler and more effective.
But Cersei was a native of the world of Ice and Fire. She had knelt countless times since childhood and was long accustomed to it.
She was perfectly willing to kneel before the High Sparrow and have him place the lion's crown upon her short golden hair.
Unfortunately for her, even if she wanted to kneel, the High Sparrow would not permit it. Who had the right to kneel so casually?Aegon wanted to kneel too!
Back then, when Tommen's legitimacy was in question, the newly risen High Sparrow had refused to crown him no matter what. It was only after Cersei personally approached him, offering to restore the Faith Militant in exchange for Tommen's coronation and the erasure of the royal family's million-gold-debt to the Faith's bank, that he relented.
Do not assume that a coronation is merely placing a crown on a king's head. Why should a king kneel before the High Septon?
Why should the royal house kneel before him?Do you think they enjoy debasing themselves?
They are kings!
There is only one reason: interest.
The High Septon represented the Seven and granted recognition and spiritual protection to the king's rule.
This was divine right. The king ruled by the will of heaven.
Under normal circumstances, if someone attempted to rebel against Tommen, the High Sparrow should have stepped forward to call the faithful of the Seven to resist the traitors.
Even though Aegon might have been backed by "Saint Daenerys," the Faith never openly opposed Tommen's rule. Their silence was the greatest form of support.
After all, Euron worshiped abominations and performed blood sacrifices, while Cersei defied the doctrines of the Seven and kept monsters like the Mountain at her side. Both should have been vehemently condemned by the Faith.
Chinese people often mock Western kings for kneeling to the Pope, seeing them as inferior to emperors who wielded supreme authority.
What they do not realize is that Western kings also sneer back: in a society where "anyone can rise to be a lord," how could a king both act recklessly and still sleep soundly at night?
Cersei had lost all her children. In her heart, Myrcella in Slaver's Bay had also been tortured to death by the Dragon Queen. She had nothing left to fear.
Long known as "the Mad King the Third," she could now surpass her predecessors, becoming even madder and more ruthless.
The High Sparrow was already staunch in his faith, and recently he had been blessed by the Mother, becoming the Holy Son of the Seven. He had even died once.
To be honest, he somewhat missed that paradise where his soul had been cleansed. This made him purer and entirely unafraid of death.
How could he possibly allow a woman who committed regicide, husband-murder, incest, blasphemy, demon-keeping, and blood sacrifice (Euron's crimes counted against her too) to become the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms?
The conflict between the Faith and the Crown was on the verge of exploding.
Now, Aegon's True Dragon Alliance.
At Sansa's request, Aegon changed his strategy and decided to send a cavalry force to seize Riverrun.
Just two days from Riverrun, news of Tommen's death arrived. Tyrion mourned his nephew and pondered who might have killed him, but he also immediately advised Aegon to turn south instead and forget about Walder Frey.
"Tommen is dead. King's Landing will be thrown into chaos, and he was the last legitimate Baratheon king.
If you attack King's Landing now, you will face the least resistance," Tyrion urged.
As Aegon hesitated, Sansa said, "Riverrun is right in front of us. It will only take a few days. We have dragons anyway. We can fight on two fronts."
"Wyverns are not invincible. I've said many times that the enemy might ambush us with scorpion bolt-throwers, or they might bring allied wyvern riders to capture us.
We cannot separate from the main army, and we must reduce the amount of time we fly alone. Also…"
Seeing Sansa's displeasure, Tyrion stopped himself.
Also, taking Riverrun would only be the beginning. You would demand more. For example, Winterfell, which lies so close, and Riverrun's own Tully lands.
But she was no longer the lonely, helpless girl trapped in King's Landing. She was now his queen, the Protector of the Vale, and Robert Arryn's guardian. Tens of thousands of Vale troops followed her lead.
She also had Brienne and the "Blackfish," Brynden.
Her wings were fully grown.
As for "the Seven Kingdoms' finest uncle," Edmure Tully was not as disgraceful as the show portrayed him. He had not been toyed with by Jaime. Though he surrendered Riverrun, he quietly released his uncle, the Blackfish.
Brynden escaped by diving into the river.
Later, after Sansa's identity was restored and she married Aegon, he joined their cause.
Who is Brynden, and why is he worth a special introduction?He is Catelyn's paternal uncle, the man most qualified to inherit the title of Duke of Riverrun, Robb and Sansa's great-uncle, one of the top five generals in the Seven Kingdoms, and a former Knight of the Bloody Gate. He once served as the Young Wolf's strategist and as the High Commander of the Southern Marches.The Knight of the Bloody Gate is a title of the Vale, responsible for commanding the forces that guard the entrance to the Vale. It is usually held by the person the Arryn duke trusts the most.
With his help, Sansa could barely command the Vale's nobles.
With his help, the Riverlands' nobles were persuaded to declare their allegiance to King Aegon one after another.
And again, he is the one serving as King Aegon's cavalry commander and military adviser.
If not for extraordinary powers, once Aegon married Sansa he would have everything: connections, generals, soldiers, and vast territory. The Vale, the Riverlands, and the North together are unimaginably large.
His Iron Throne would essentially be secure, and whether Dorne and Aunt Dany were willing to help would not matter much.
In the king's study at the Gates of the Moon, Aegon rejected Tyrion's suggestion to march south to King's Landing immediately.
"We split our forces. One column marches north to Harrenhal, the other heads south to King's Landing. Our assault on Harrenhal will not hinder the southern force," he said.
"That was the previous plan, but things have changed. We should abandon the slow advance of the main army.
We should ride light. One man with three horses, three thousand Vale cavalry leaving through the Bloody Gate, and two thousand Golden Company riders heading north to King's Landing," Tyrion explained.
"There are fifteen thousand lions inside King's Landing, and ten thousand Reach knights camped outside the city. How are we supposed to win with five thousand cavalry?" Aegon asked.
"The High Sparrow will help us. There are several thousand church fighters inside the city. And I am a Lannister, so I can persuade some of the officers."
"Why would the High Sparrow help us? I am not Cersei. I will not allow the church to seize royal tax revenue, nor will I tolerate monks occupying royal gardens, mines, or other property," Aegon said sternly.
"You think my sister can tolerate it? I swear on my father's bones that she absolutely cannot. She cannot tolerate the church stealing the crown's wealth, cannot tolerate the humiliation the church inflicted upon her, and cannot tolerate the High Sparrow refusing to crown her.
He helps us not because he likes you but because he must choose the lesser of two evils.
You only want his money. My sister wants his life," Tyrion said helplessly.
"I don't believe Cersei is that insane. The Mother appeared, everyone saw it. How could she dare to blaspheme the Seven?" Aegon shook his head repeatedly.
Even he, a foreign-born royal raised along the Rhoyne, now went to the sept every week to pray with devout sincerity. Would Cersei truly defy the entire realm?
Around two in the morning the next night, Tyrion, Aegon, and Sansa secretly left the Gates of the Moon on three dragons. At dawn the next day, they landed in Brynden Blackfish's camp.
Yes, Uncle Littlefinger could think of ambushing Aegon with allied forces, so Tyrion had naturally thought of it as well. His countermeasure was simple: travel close to the main army, move only at night, and vary the timing.
The army had scorpions. Even if ten wyverns chased them, as long as they reached the range of their own scorpion formations, they would be safe.
The assault on Harrenhal was far more difficult than Aegon had expected, because the Freys were not stupid. They understood what they had done and what Queen Sansa outside the city intended to do with them. Every single one of them fought for their life.
If not for the two wyverns repeatedly dropping fire-oil bombs, Blackfish Brynden's mixed force of three thousand Vale and Riverlands soldiers might not have been able to take Harrenhal at all.
It took them one full day to break the gates, and two more days to eliminate the two thousand defenders in the city.
When a thousand prisoners were brought to the drill field outside the walls, Sansa sat atop "Lady" and declared coldly, "Their hands are stained with the blood of Northern soldiers. Not one of them is innocent."
Yes—"Lady" was the name of her striped wyvern.
In the end, Harrenhal was cleansed in blood. Aside from the elderly, children, and women, not even the stableboys escaped. About five thousand people were executed.
More than twenty Frey direct descendants and over two hundred fifty collateral Freys were killed without age or gender distinction. Only two newborn babies named "Dany" were spared. All the rest were hanged and then fed to the wyverns.
Sansa forgave the infants, but not the Frey children.
Cruel?At least she was more "merciful" than Robert or Tywin.
Aegon and Tyrion only frowned slightly and did not oppose her.
Only because, for the Reynes' disrespect toward the Lannisters, Tywin wiped out their entire house, and the singers even composed "The Rains of Castamere" to praise him for it.
The people of the Seven Kingdoms felt only awe toward Tywin. None accused him of cruelty.
Aerys admired Tywin's decisiveness so much that he invited him to King's Landing to serve as Hand. Tywin later gifted him "The Rains of Castamere" as a symbol of their twenty years of friendship.
However, the Freys were not exterminated, and Walder Frey did not die.
The Freys have far more than twenty direct heirs.
(ps: In Game of Thrones, Edmure Tully looks like a fool or a jester. He accomplishes almost nothing and even causes his uncle's death—making viewers grit their teeth in anger.
But in the books, Edmure is a sincere and warm young man. He does not possess great wisdom, but he is not stupid and is a competent noble heir.
The reason he surrendered the castle to Jaime was because Jaime brought a large force from King's Landing, and Edmure knew Riverrun could not hold—after he had already resisted fiercely for several months.
And before surrendering, he secretly lifted the water gate's iron grille just enough for Uncle Brynden to escape by swimming.
In the end, he is the one who tricked Jaime.)
(End of chapter)
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