WiC Reads: Fire & Blood

7) A Surfeit of Rulers

This is a strange chapter. Unlike previous chapters, a good chunk of “A Surfeit of Rulers” is concerned with hearsay and things that might have happened, or not, or maybe they did happen but with a different set of people involved.

Part of this chapter concerns Rhaena Targaryen, who finally leaves her refuge, Fair Isle, after the death of the lord who had been harboring her. The brother of her young husband takes up the lordship and immediately wants her gone. She leaves and takes her entourage, including her friend, sister-in-law and possible lover Elissa Farman, along with friends Alayne Royce and Samantha Stokeworth. This is despite the wishes of the new Lord Franklyn Farman, who tries to stop them by force. Nevertheless, Rhaena and her group takes their leave and arrive at Casterly Rock, only to find that Lord Lannister has his own plans for her and her dragon eggs.

We also get information about Jaehaerys and Alysanne on Dragonstone, although this section is even more dominated by hearsay. Queen Alyssa and Rogar Baratheon try to manipulate the newlyweds from afar in an attempt to undo their marriage. Their approach is – supposedly – twofold: Alyssa dispatches pious folk while Rogar sends Coryanne Wylde, a girl of dubious repute, to seduce Jaehaerys.

The last part of this chapter is focused on Rogar Baratheon and Queen Alyssa. Rogar becomes a full-fledged traitor and Alyssa finally opposes him instead of helping him depose her own son, which basically ends their relationship. Rogar tries to get a hold of and crown Aerea Targaryen, but fails.

More than in any chapter so far, GRRM paints the members of the Great Houses of Westeros in a way that’s familiar to us. Baratheons are very much Baratheons, Lannisters are very much Lannisters, and so on. I wonder if our author is taking this a bit far, but these dynasties do last for hundreds of years, so we should expect some continuity.