Chapter 81: The Curse of the "Second Son"
Before his transmigration, Egger had often wondered: how did a family like the Starks, who seemed to produce nothing but fools in the story, stand tall in the North for thousands of years and emerge victorious in wars against rival Kings of the North?
Now, as an outsider living in this world, he had to take the time to look at the issue more deeply and essentially. He gradually realized that Eddard Stark's pedantic, clumsy, and naive performance in the game of thrones wasn't actually a failure of the Stark lineage, nor did it have anything to do with his own immaturity or stupidity. Rather, it was destined from the start—Eddard Stark was simply never raised on the template of a player of the game.
He wasn't an heir; he was a second son raised in the Vale.
In this era, to prevent internal family strife, many Great Houses chose different methods for raising an heir versus his younger brothers. The eldest son and future Lord had to learn not only how to command and govern, but also when to be noble and honorable and when to discard morality to protect the family's interests. The non-eldest children, however, only needed to be brave, honest, and loyal; after all, their future role was to support their elder brother, not to stand alone.
To put it simply: the eldest must be cunning, while the rest are better off being a bit blunt. Being too capable was actually a disadvantage for the family.
Ned received the latter treatment.
At the age of eight, he was sent to the Eyrie as Jon Arryn's ward to maintain the alliance between the North and the Vale. His foster father, the upright and noble Lord Arryn, did indeed help his ally by molding Ned into a qualified second son—much like Benjen Stark, the duty-bound First Ranger with whom Egger was already quite familiar.
This wasn't a problem in itself. The problem was that Ned's elder brother, Brandon Stark, was subsequently murdered by the Mad King.
...
The death of an heir was not rare in a backward and chaotic era. Usually, a patriarch would quickly pick another child and immediately begin remodeling them into the heir template. But Ned's situation was dire: his father, Rickard Stark, was murdered by the Mad King on the same day his brother died.
Thus, a ward and second son, without a single day of remedial training, suddenly lost his father and brother and became the Lord of the North and head of House Stark. This was rare enough, but more fatally, Robert's Rebellion was sparked by this very tragedy. Ned had no elders left in his own family to mold him, nor did he have the time to be taught by the elders of other houses.
Ned had no experience or wisdom in being the master of a house. Fortunately, he wasn't fighting the Targaryens alone. During the hurried Rebellion, he had the command and assistance of two old foxes: his father-in-law, Hoster Tully of Riverrun, and his foster father, Jon Arryn of the Vale. Stumbling along, he somehow managed to succeed in the rebellion alongside Robert.
By the time the war ended and the dust settled, Ned was a man of great military renown, the oldest and highest-ranking living member of House Stark, and the de facto ruler of the North. No one was left with the authority to dictate to him, tell him how to rule, or remodel him into a qualified ruler.
...
Consequently, he retained every ounce of the honor and integrity he had learned as a second son and applied it to his rule of the North. By sheer luck, the backwater he ruled didn't have many conspiracies or power struggles; a second son acting as master didn't cause any major disasters. Thus, Eddard Stark not only clung to his virtues but also raised all his children to be qualified second sons—and everyone saw the foolish mistakes Robb Stark made after becoming King in the North without an eldest son's education.
Insulting the Freys—a vital ally—without even realizing it, executing a key general like Karstark on the eve of battle, attending the Red Wedding completely defenseless... If Brandon Stark had lived, how could a child he raised have committed such acts of political illiteracy?
So, if anyone still wants to call so-and-so stupid or naive, they can stop. Eddard Stark was a qualified product of Westerosi society; he was simply placed in the wrong position by fate and his unperceptive royal brother.
It was all the fault of a second son's education.
What Egger was currently working toward was secretly doing his best to protect this misplaced, pedantic, and stubborn man. The reason was simple: having a Hand of the King who was upright, respected the Night's Watch, and—most importantly—was exceptionally easy to manipulate, was currently what best served Egger's interests.
"It's a deal then, no backing out tomorrow!"
"A man of the Night's Watch never breaks his word!"
After seeing off a jubilant Arya, who had secured his promise, Egger let out a long sigh. Propping up a hopeless cause like Ned was undoubtedly hard work. Fortunately, he had struck gold on his first try; with a single clever rumor, he had disrupted his first opponent's plans. He had time to do other things before the next crisis.
Right... when I get back to the inn, I'll write that reply to the Wall. Now, he had to consider how to convince Commander Mormont to cancel—or at least postpone—the Great Ranging, and find a way to capture two wights to send south to open the eyes of these skeptics.
He stretched his body and walked into the outer room with Tyrion, finding his new recruit—the second member of the Night's Watch office, Kon, sitting upright behind the desk in the lobby, looking every bit the part of a diligent shopkeeper.
Egger rubbed his temples. For the moment, he wasn't sure how to handle this pretender. If Kon asked to leave today, that would be easy; what he feared was the man staying by his side outwardly while secretly sneaking into the Red Keep to cause trouble... If he brought trouble back to the office, that would be a disaster.
"Closing time, let's go," Egger said to Jaqen. He didn't dwell on it for long; if you want to play pretend, we'll just have an acting duel. When it comes to killing, I can't hold a candle to you, but when it comes to the self-cultivation of an actor, I've picked up a fair few tips myself. After saying this, he turned to Tyrion: "Don't go to bed too early tonight; I might need your help writing a letter."
"You should really master writing as soon as possible," Tyrion replied. He didn't refuse, but he couldn't help complaining: "Playing scribe for you all day is mentally exhausting."
"I appreciate the hard work; it's a burden for the capable, after all."
...
Jeor Mormont had been the Lord of Bear Island before joining the Night's Watch and had quickly become Lord Commander after taking the black, holding power ever since. To the current Egger, he was undoubtedly a leader and a great man who could only be looked up to for now. To convince such an old man to change his mind, one had to use the right methods.
After all, the Lord Commander hadn't witnessed the White Walkers' combat prowess, which far exceeded that of ordinary men. Logically speaking, his desire to launch a Great Ranging for an investigation was sound... Since it was logically sound, Egger naturally couldn't talk him out of it through reason alone.
Tsk... how should I start this?
Egger, accompanied by Jaqen, returned to the Albatross Inn with Tyrion's party. After thinking about it the whole way, an idea finally surfaced: since reason was hard to argue, he would simply think in reverse. He would start with an unreasonable opening, using a bout of unfair criticism to grab Mormont's attention, and then use a multi-pronged approach of both soft and hard tactics to achieve his goal of persuasion.
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