A Parcel of Rogues in a Nation: On the Great Councils, Part II
Seemingly for the first time in recorded history, lords from all over Westeros had gathered together. The greatest Targaryen king in history had summoned them together to provide a peaceful mechanism for deciding the succession of the Iron Throne. And thanks to the fecklessness of Viserys I, their work would make a peace that would last only 28 years.
(more…)An excellent conclusion to @racefortheironthrone’s discussions on the Great Councils of Westeros. It is quite nice indeed to point out that, despite her very clear flaws, Alicent was sane enough to recognize that a Great Council was a reasonable, even necessary, option in the escalating bloodshed of the Dance (although she was doubtless confident that Aegon II would emerge on top).
I’m very curious – although we’ll have to wait some years to find out, of course – what Bloodraven’s motivations behind calling the Great Council of 233 AC were. If Bloodraven wanted to be in firm control of the state again, then baby Maegor would have seemed the most obvious candidate for him to back, and a Great Council unnecessary; not only did the little prince have the clearest blood claim as the most senior male-line descendant of Maekar I, but as an infant Maegor would be subject to a regency for the better part of 16 years – a role which Bloodraven might have smoothly assumed to fill. It’s possible, if not indeed probable, that the palpable hatred toward Aerion warned Bloodraven that supporting his, Aerion’s, son as king would isolate him politically and perhaps lead to his ouster from power – but if that’s the case, what was Bloodraven’s plan? Whom did Bloodraven want to seat on the Iron Throne? There’s too little information to know at this point, though future Tales of Dunk and Egg and Fire and Blood Volume 2 will doubtless explain this further.
Excellent questions!
TBH, I think Bloodraven did it because he knew that if he didn’t, the same dynamic that had happened when Aerys I was king would re-emerge, where discontent with the king’s inability to live up to the knightly standard or fulfill the social contract amplified Bloodraven’s own negative publicity through the old “evil councilor” meme, and gave additional strength to the Blackfyre cause.
After all, Blackfyre sympathies must have been strong enough to fear their influence on a Great Council, what with Haegon’s murder still unanswered.
RFTIT Tumblr Backup 