All stories end. Valar morghulis. The Small Council maesters predict who will die, who will sit on the Iron Throne and how this leviathan series will finish. Valar dohaeris.
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Hosted by Wendy Hembrock.
Recorded on 5/16/2019. Edited by Brent Barrett.
Music by Break of Reality used with permission.
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It’s less prediction and more what should be:
With the destruction of the Red Keep and the death of Cersei Lannister, Dany is at last victorious. While she is mildly miffed she will not literally take the Iron Throne, since it was lost in the debris of the collapsed Red Keep, she is ecstatic, giddy at victory. She declares a week of celebration before her public coronation as queen of the Seven Kingdoms. During this time she orders a handful of civilians be rewarded with assignment of being her royal cupbearers (tasters), to make sure no food or drink is poisoned (also with their respective families taken into royal custody to make sure no one tries to hold them hostage in plot against the queen).
While planning the coronation, including using the Dragonpit where she and Cersei parlayed, and ordering a throne forged from Dragon glass, the Dragon Throne, she promotes Grey Worm to be head of the Queen’s Guard and her own personal bodyguard.
Tyrion arrives at the Crossroads Inn and meets with Sansa, Arya, Bran and Brienne. Sansa explains several squads are “nearby” just in case. Tyrion reports Dany won, and how she won. He also explains to Brienne a plan for him to save their sister out a secret tunnel that leads to the coast. Unfortunately the Red Keep collapsed and the boat Tyrion had arranged was still there. Tyrion downs a drink in one gulp, saddened that he had believed in her plan to break the wheel, where a small group of powerful families rule and crush the weak. She believed that she could break the cycle.
Sansa asked how could that be? No ruler on the Iron Throne? No King or even Warden in the North? She truly was mad. How could we possibly live?
“As Free Folk,” Jon answers as he closes the door behind him to the meeting room. Jon explains they choose their leaders and if the leaders fail, they choose others to replace them. “Of course, that would require trust that a leader would relinquish power peacefully, that they keep their word,” Jon adds as he stares at Sansa.
“A good leader,” Sansa replies, “Should earn trust and loyalty, if they are worthy it—which Dany has shown she is not.”
“Not after we betrayed her. Not after she set aside her bid for power to save Winterfell and all of Westeros, and then we betrayed her, stabbed her in the back, plotted against her.”
“What is done is done,” Bran interjects, “We must move forward.”
“And you, brother,” Jon replies, “Did you foresee this?”
“I foresaw the possibility and I foresaw Dany would yield to the bells and that you would be killed and that she would be killed and Cersei would light Wildfire to the whole place. My foresight is not exact or guaranteed. I only get glimpses of what might be—much of which might have been speculated normally. I can foresee a hundred futures for you and only one would come true—maybe. Do you cower in fear of which might be or do take action and choose your future, Jon, or should I say, Aegon?”
Jon leans back from the name.
“We must act now,” Arya states, “Before Dany secures power and the body count to unseat her climbs higher and higher.”
Jon nods.
Sansa replies, “We need someone on the inside.”
Brienne adds, “Someone with a conscience.”
Tyrion decides against another cup of drink, “I think I know who.”
Everyone is still on eggshells around Daenerys despite her proclamation that the first ten thousand to bend the knee at her coronation will be handsomely rewarded for their loyalty. Blacksmiths struggle to smelt the Dragon glass into her Dragon Throne. Also her insistence on camping out in the Dragon pit with Drogon has people on edge. After a long day, Grey Worm hands off body guard duties to his second in command of the Queen’s Guard and retires to his quarters.
Along the way a dirty little girl in rags begs for food for her brother and her blind mother. Grey Worm pauses and pulls out a coin and hands it to her—at which point one of her children places a knife to his throat.
“Careful, and no one needs to die, Grey Worm,” says Arya as she pulls off her mask, “Inside,” as her ‘brother’ opens the door and they all enter an abandoned house. Her ‘brother’ pulls off his hood to reveal he’s Tyrion and the blind mother pulls off the bandages on her head to reveal she’s Ser Brienne, a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, as she securely holds him by his shoulders.
“So, the traitorous Hand of the Queen returns,” Grey Worm says upon seeing Tyrion.
“Yes, I’m a traitor. To King Baratheon who ordered the death of our Queen when she was baby. I betrayed my father who knowingly sentenced me to the death for crimes he knew I was innocent of. I betrayed my sister, who sat on the Iron Throne and opposed the current Queen. But I act in the name of the people and Queen Daenerys. She said she wanted to break the system that oppressed the people. Yet she seeks to do so while on a throne. She has been seduced by power. She has betrayed what she has sought—to break chains swap out new chains. You can help us fulfill her vision.”
“How’s that, Ser Tywin?”
“By joining us in doing what is right,” as Jon steps out of shadows in the building, “I have given my word to serve the Queen. What we do now is in service to the Queen. Only you can do what needs doing. Not only for Dany but for Missandei.”
“How dare you speak her name?!”
“You loved her,” Tywin interjects, “You would die for her.”
“You dare to doubt it?!”
“And you would avenge her death,” Arya replies, “Even if it meant killing everyone in King’s Landing one by one.”
“Starting with everyone in this room I imagine,” Sansa replies as she steps out from the shadows.
Tyrion steps forward, “But we want you to do something more for Missandei, the hardest thing ever.”
“Nothing is too great for Missandei.”
“Good,” Tyrion replies, “We want you to live for her. Live to tell how wonderful she was. How special she was. Live for her, tell her story, so she will live on in all who hear it.”
Grey Worm shakes as he silently cries for his lost love “H-how do I ‘live’ for Missandei?”
Sansa replies, “It starts with Coronation Day.”
Coronation Day arrives with everything prepared as Dany ordered, the Dragon’s Keep in the Dragon Pit, with a new throne room with the Dragon Throne, and a prescribed area where ten thousand people can come and bend the knee at the same time. She has already rewarded her five cupbearers and their families by giving them new titles and lands, although they remain in royal “protection” for now until the time is right.
As ceremony begins, Jon busts in, Dany has the guards to seize him. Jon says that there is a conspiracy against the queen. Dany raises an eyebrow, “Why would you stop it since you don’t love me any more and simply disappeared this past week?”
“My queen, I have failed you. I am not good with words or speeches but I do love you, will always love you. But I can’t ‘be’ with you since finding out that I am Aegon Targareon, your nephew and son of Rhaegar Targareon. It may be the way you were brought up but it is not mine. Yet, you are my queen. I never wanted the Iron Throne. I gave my word willingly to bend the knee, to serve you, from that day until my dying day and all the days in between. I don’t like everything that happened a week ago but good can still come of it, of your plan to break the wheel.”
“My love, yes, you are right, and as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, I can assure that no one family or several families oppress the people. All will be equal—under my fair rulership,” Dany looks on Jon with newfound light as she the tears fall from his eyes, much like Jorah, “I see now that this is my destiny to rule alone. I misunderstood your feelings but your loyalty despite personal difficulty will be rewarded.”
“I have also come to warn you of conspiracy against you, by Sansa Stark, Arya Stark and Tyrion Lannister.”
“Do you have proof?”
“Yes, tell her, Grey Worm.”
“He speaks truth. They sought us out to conspire against you. Jon, or Aegon, talked to me afterward how we can spring a trap on them, starting with the fourth in command of the King’s Guard. Seize him!”
“My sister, Arya, has learned to disguise herself after anyone who has died—and the body of his fourth in command was found among the debris of the Red Keep last night, Grey Worm?” Grey Worm goes over and removes the mask, revealing Arya to the surprise of everyone in the royal court.
“Jon, how could you?!”
Jon walks toward Arya, “I gave my word. Was no one listening? I gave my word,” Jon inhales and exhales and turns back to Dany, “Anyway, Arya was supposed to strike when everyone was distracted.”
“Distracted?” Dany asks.
“Wait for it,” Jon replies.
Everyone waits, looking around and then there is a noise. People yelling and there are loud thuds and finally the double doors fly apart inward as in burst Ghost, who has grown to the size of a pony. His beautiful white coat is sprinkled with dots of red. All the guards hold their spears, bows, crossbows and swords.
“STOP! STOP RIGHT NOW … BRAN! It’s over. There’s no sense in getting Ghost killed for nothing. They know. I told them.”
And an odd look in Ghost’s eyes change, and goes over to lick Jon’s face, ”Oh, you’re a good boy,” Jon says as he hugs him and rubs his head and behind the ears, “You’ve been eating well up North, gotten big strong.”
And while the guards are distracted, Arya, kicks the legs out from them, takes Grey Worm’s spear, knocks him down and grabs her dagger. Jon looks on in horror and runs toward Dany as Arya flings the deadly blade. Jon barely manages to leap between them as the blade hits him in the shoulder.
“SIEZE HER! But do not kill her! She will die, along with her sister, her family and all who conspired with her and more. An example will be set, as all traitors die—by fire,” then Dany goes to Jon on the floor seeing, “You will be treated, and when you have recovered you will be hailed as the new Hero of the Seven Kingdoms who foiled this most despicable attempted assassination.”
“No, my queen, I won’t, my love,” Jon replies, “I led this assassination” and pulls the dagger out of his shoulder and stabs Dany in the neck. At that numerous queen’s guards shoot arrows into Jon.
Dany reflexively pulls out the knife as blood wells up out her neck as she gurgles, “Your word? W-why?”
“You were not true to yourself, my queen. This was the only way to serve you until my dying day. This was the only way to save you. The only way … we can finally be … together.”
That’s when a loud screech was heard and Grey Worm yelled “RUN! EVERYONE, RUN OUT!”
While everyone ran out, Grey Worm and Arya grabbed Ghost and pushed him out through the broken entrance just as Drogon crashed through the roof and blasted it with fire. The explosion knocked both of them clear as the makeshift Dragon’s Keep collapsed and was engulfed by fire. Nothing could put out the dragonfire that consumed Jon and Dany and Drogon. In the weeks and months afterward, it became known as the Forever Fire and the Eternal Flame.
So ended the story of Jon Snow and Daenerys Targareon and all their generation, a song of Ice and Fire.
TEN YEARS AGO
As the eldest surviving siblings of Aegon Targaryen and Cersei Lannister, whom some saw as being unfairly deposed, Sansa Stark and Tyrion Lannister were considered heirs to the throne of the Seven Kingdoms. To quell rivalries, they remarried and shared the throne. As their first proclamation in a year’s time, the kingdoms would be all dissolved and replaced by the people choosing their leaders. The people would have established rights that could not be curtailed and the leadership of each realm, the former seven kingdoms, would serve terms of 5 years length and no more than two consecutive terms so no one could dominate office. Instead of ruling king or queen there would be a ruling council, of seven members, chosen by each realm.
They found the Iron Throne and melted it down to form the Iron Table for the Governing Council, round, like a wheel, so no one was at the head of the table. Everyone was equal in power and status.
Bronn reappeared having gone through the escape tunnel from the coast and discovered a battered and bruised Jaime Lannister. He had been trapped in an air pocket and was about to lose his whole arm when Jaime told Bronn it was just his gold hand caught. Bronn insisted on saving both Lannister brothers—before he insisted on getting High Garden as the promised reward.
Jaime never replaced his hand and lived as a fisherman by the coast. He told Tyrion that he deserved no better and a lot worse. When asked what to tell Brienne, he replied she deserves far better than him and she is better off without him, that if he really cared, he would tell her that he died trying to save Cersei.
Months later, Brienne showed up and knocked him to the ground, furious that he would tell his brother to lie to her, for not giving her the choice of accepting him or not, as if she did not know who and what he was. She was furious at how much he was disrespecting her as a person, as a fellow knight and setting a horrible example—as a father. He lay on the ground lacking the will to fight back to say—and then a thought broke his dull brain: Father. He looked up and saw that Brienne was pregnant. He was stunned and—
“If you dare ask me who the father is I will knock you into the sea,” and she held out her hand to him to get up—and he took it and went with her hand in hand.
It was a time of huge change. Even the Eternal Flame was not eternal. After almost ten months, it died out and found in the center of the Dragon Pit was a little baby girl, unburnt by the fire. She was named “Jonerys Targareon” aka “Daughter of Dragons” and raised by Sansa and Tyrion.
“That’s me and Aunt Sansa and Uncle Tyrion.”
“That’s right, Jonny. That’s how you were born 10 years ago, along with Janie of Tarth and our daughter, Samanda Tarwell.”
“You tell the greatest stories, Aunt Gilly and Uncle Sam.”
“Wait until we tell you the story about the imp who saved the world from the most dangerous weapon in the world—disguised as a simple ring.”
EPILOGUE
“Well, that will have to wait, Sam and Gilly, the musicians have arrived for the ten-year anniversary of the nation,” Sansa said arriving at the booth in the People’s Plaza, the new name given to the Dragon Pit, “And thank you for looking after my beloved niece. There was some last second matters to attend to with Governing Board.”
“Oh, it was a joy for Sam and I to look after Jonny. She’s the best. As guess that will be your final meeting as a Governor.”
“Only on the ‘Iron Board’, I was re-elected Governor of the North but I will have more time to spend with my darling Little One,” Sansa says as she hugs Jonny.
“Sweetheart, I asked not to call me that in public. I prefer ‘Warden of the North’ or ‘Beloved Husband’, either one,” Tyrion says as he enters the booth and hugs Sansa and Jonny.
“Oh ‘Beloved Husband’, you love your entrances almost as much as you love talking and me and Jonny—in that order.”
“I’m hurt, ‘Beloved Wife’, I also love to drink and to know things.” And the pair of them laugh.
Gilly looked down and saw Jonny wasn’t smiling, “What’s wrong, deary?”
“I was wondering, why did father save mother if he wanted her dead?”
All four adults were mildly shocked and looked up at each other and Sansa spoke.
“As good an aim as my sister had, even at a distance, she could miss. To save your mother from causing any more harm, he insisted the only way was up close. And it was the only way to get a weapon up close to your mother. He had to be sure. You don’t dare try to kill the queen—and miss.”
“Yes, my sister had a saying, ‘In the game of thrones, you win or die.’ She failed to consider that sometimes you win and die. That’s why we got rid of the thrones so that if someone wants power, they can explain why, peacefully, and if their explanation is good enough, they can be awarded power, peacefully.”
“It’s still messy, filled with squabbles, and added a problem, people who live to talk about government issues with everyone, not just the royal court,” Sansa added, “But it’s not as deadly as it was before. Oh, wait, the musicians are starting. I hear the singer, Ser Frederick Joseph, is really great.”
“Gilly and I heard his ‘Secret Garden’. It’s the romantic song ever. I heard he crafted a new song for today’s celebration.”
Everyone in the booth sits down as the musicians begin:
Born down in King’s Landing
Mom died during the birthing
Half sized runt always getting beat up
Spent the rest of my life trying to make up
Born in Westeros
I was born in Westeros
I was born in Westeros
Born in Westeros
Born up north in Winterfell
Taught to dance & curtsy, felt like a jail
My dad lost his head to save his family
So I made a list of his & my enemies
Cuz we were
Born in Westeros
Yeah, we’re born in Westeros
We were … born in Westeros
Crazy kids born in Westeros
Born in the snow without a name
My dad treated me fair, just the same
I went north and beyond the Wall
Saw the dead marching South so I sounded the call
To all those born in Westeros
All us … born in Westeros
Rally those … born in Westeros
Rally those born in Westeros
We made a stand in Winterfell
Winter came, snow, wind and hail
When all seem lost and endless night
A girl shoved the pointy end and won the fight
And she was … born in Westeros
Born in Westeros
Born in Westeros
She beat the dead in Westeros
We beat the dead, won the Great War
But we squabbled once again, cuz that’s who we are
Over power, position and an Iron Throne
We lost sight that we’re all born
Born in Westeros
Yeah, we’re … born in Westeros
Born in Westeros
Yeah, we’re just all folk in Westeros
Hey, hey!