House of the Dragon: The Grand Maester Conspiracy, explained

On both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, you’ve probably noticed the maesters, learned men who wear chains around their necks. Maesters act as advisors, healers and teachers to lords and their children. There is one assigned to each castle in Westeros and they serve whoever rules their assigned post. The maesters are trained at a university of sorts called the Citadel, located in the city of Oldtown in the Reach. Each maester gives up their family name when they begin their studies, so it is impossible to know who they really are, where they come from or where their real loyalties lie.

In George R.R. Martin’s books, it’s sometimes suggested that the maesters have a role beyond their obvious one. They may even be part of…a Grand Maester Conspiracy. This theory has been bounced around the internet by A Song of Ice and Fire fans for years, but didn’t really play a part on Game of Thrones. Might it show up on House of the Dragon?

What is the Grand Maester Conspiracy?

In the Song of Ice and Fire books, there are a few characters who express their distrust of the maesters. In A Dance With Dragons, a northern lady named Barbrey Dustin calls the maesters “grey rats” and points out the fact that they hold a great deal of power over the lords they serve. For instance, maesters write and send all of the letters for their lords and they could very easily manipulate the words for their own ends. Dustin also suggests that the maesters orchestrated the events that led to Robert’s Rebellion and the displacement of the Targaryen dynasty. The evidence for this is pretty scarce, but it’s true that lords and ladies put blind faith in the maesters and trust them with pretty much everything.

The maesters are also directly in charge of the healthcare of their lords and have extensive knowledge of not only medicine, but also poison. In House of the Dragon, Grand Maester Mellos has been giving King Viserys questionable treatments for his wasting disease. His favorite method of treatment is leechings, which we in the 21st century know do not work. In “We Light The Way,” the younger Maester Orwyle suggests giving Viserys some kind of medicine to treat him, which Mellos rejects, saying that using leeches “always helps.” If that were true, then why does Viserys seem never to get better? Judging by his condition in Episode 5, Viserys can barely stay on his feet.

But what is it that the maesters are purportedly conspiring to do? The idea is that maesters are an order who prize logic and reason above all else. They are distrustful of all things magical and wondrous, which means they are distrustful of dragons.

Dancing with dragons

We get more evidence for some kind of conspiracy in A Feast for Crows. At the end of the book, Sam Tarly arrives at the Citadel and meets a man nalled Marwyn the Mage, an archmeaster known for his eccentric behavior and expertise in magic. Marwyn is somewhat of a pariah at the Citadel because of his dabbling in the magical arts, and because he spent years in the mysterious city of Assai.

Anyway, Marwyn briefly grills Sam about his encounters with the White Walkers and then declares he is leaving Oldtown to seek out Daenerys:

"Who do you think killed all the dragons the last time around? Gallant dragonslayers armed with swords? The world the Citadel is building has no place in it for sorcery or prophecy or glass candles, much less for dragons."

By the end of the Dance, and presumably the end of House of the Dragon, nearly all of the Targaryen dragons will be dead. So on this new show, we may find out if Marwyn was right. Did the maesters use their influence to try and kill of the dragons, which have no place in the world they’re trying to build?

It should be noted that the Hightowers are one of the most powerful houses during the time of the Dance and they are the main supporters of the maesters because they rule over Oldtown. There are many scenes where Mellos is seen talking or exchanging looks with Hand of the King Otto Hightower and his brother Hobert. While this doesn’t necessarily mean anything, it is a curious detail that could come into play later.

There are probably a lot of people in Westeros and beyond, not just maesters, who despise the dragons. While dragons are great for the Targaryens, everyone is pretty much powerless to stand against them if push came to shove. And push will certainly come to shove sooner rather than later on House of the Dragon.

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