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#the kingsguard
longclawshilt · 7 months
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Ned's Tower of Joy dream is an interesting case study on how GRRM employs the three part revelation strategy. Because Ned's questioning of the kings guard and their subsequent answers basically falls into:
Q: Why are the kingsguard at the Tower of Joy? They could be anywhere else but they're here? Why??
A: They are there to fulfill their duty to the king.
See, Ned asks them three questions that get to the heart of revealing why the kingsguard are present where Lyanna (and Jon, per RLJ) are. Because if the kingsguard's primary duty is to protect the king, and if each set of question and answer reaffirms that the KG at the tower were doing their duty, then we can discern that Rhaegar's son is the king at that moment in time. Each question and answer reveals more information than the last, which falls into the three part strategy as observed by GRRM's editor, Anne Groell.
[...] I’ve realized his three-fold revelation strategy, I see it in play almost every time. The first, subtle hint for the really astute readers, followed later by the more blatant hint for the less attentive, followed by just spelling it out for everyone else. It’s a brilliant strategy, and highly effective.
How this strategy plays into the ToJ dream is that GRRM starts with
planting a little seed of doubt by questioning the kingsguard's whereabouts
then he follows up with bringing to attention the fact that they have not yet sworn fealty to the new king
then finally spelling it out that their presence here rather than elsewhere signifies that the king is close at hand - in the very tower where this confrontation is taking place
For the astute observer who has figured out that R+L=J, this is a very important piece of information regarding Jon's status at the time. Because he has so far been introduced to us as Ned Stark's bastard. But now, this sequence of information plays into the larger theme of Jon being presented as a hidden king.
So let's take a more detailed look at how this plays out in the dream once Ned confronts the ghosts of the kingsguard.
P.S: Ok, I lied. Ned actually asks them four questions. But four is not so nice a number as three so whatever. The point remains.
Q1: Three other kingsguard were fighting with the crown prince at the Trident. Yet these three remained. Why?
A1: Their duty was not to go to the Trident but to remain at the ToJ
“I looked for you on the Trident,” Ned said to them. “We were not there,” Ser Gerold answered. “Woe to the Usurper if we had been,” said Ser Oswell.
This first set means to establish a timeline. We know that Rhaegar was last at the tower (well, that is before he went to Kings Landing and then to the Trident). Rhaegar even took three other kingsguard to battle with him: Jonothor Darry, Barristan Selmy, and Lewyn Martell.
These three kings guard at the ToJ should have gone with Rhaegar because after all, it's their duty to fight for the king and his cause. But they were left at the TOJ. And we can assume that this was per Rhaegar's orders as GRRM himself confirms that if Rhaegar told them to stay at the tower, then they would've had little power to disobey him.
But Rhaegar died at the Trident. So why did they choose to remain? And even though this conversation is happening within a feverish dream (thus opening up the possibility that these words were not the actual ones that were exchanged in real history), it still seems that by the time Ned got to the tower the kingsguard already knew of Rhaegar's demise.
So why did they remain?
Q2: Jaime Lannister, a member of the kingsguard, was in King's Landing slaying their king. Why were these three not there to avenge Aerys? Isn't their primary duty to protect the king?
A2: Aerys is dead, but the kingsguard still has to do their duty which is to remain at the tower.
“When King’s Landing fell, Ser Jaime slew your king with a golden sword, and I wondered where you were.” “Far away,” Ser Gerold said, “or Aerys would yet sit the Iron Throne, and our false brother would burn in seven hells.”
Once again, the language used here suggests that they knew of their king's demise. They did not go with Rhaegar to the Trident, and then Rhaegar died. Who knows how fast information travels, but these three still chose to remain at the tower despite his death. Afterwards, they did not make an effort to find Aerys, nor did they make an effort to go and avenge him once he was dead. They swore an oath to remain at the tower, and that is exactly what they did.
But with Rhaegar dead and with Aerys dead, they're now running out of excuses to remain at the tower. Though they may be fiercely loyal to the vows they swore to their prince, they also have a primary duty to obey their king and they could've performed that elsewhere. Especially now that there's a new king in town...
Q3: Ok, their king is dead and the entire realm now swears fealty to a new king. All the knights, honorable and dishonorable, have bent the knee. But what about them? Why are they here?
A3: They have a duty to remain at the tower. A duty they fulfill as members of the kingsguard, and one that cannot be transferred easily.
“I came down on Storm’s End to lift the siege,” Ned told them, “and the Lords Tyrell and Redwyne dipped their banners, and all their knights bent the knee to pledge us fealty. I was certain you would be among them.” “Our knees do not bend easily,” said Ser Arthur Dayne.
What's interesting about this is that they seemingly reject Robert as their king. It's a reaffirmation of their first answer to Ned's first question. "Woe to the Usurper if we had been [at the Trident]”. So Robert is not their king. But the primary duty of the kingsguard is to serve the king. Their behavior so far gives the impression that they are fulfilling it. But it's rather strange, isn't it. Who are they fulfilling their duty to if not Robert?
And Ned knows this. If they reject Robert as their king, who else is there to support? Rhaegar is long dead. Aerys was slain by their own sworn brother. And Rhaegar's son and heir met his end at the hand of Gregor Clegane. Their duty is sworn to the Targaryen line, but it has been snuffed out. So why are they here?
But Ned asks a final question that is, in a way, a nail in the coffin. It answers the question: they serve the king but which one?
Q4: Fine! Robert is not their king. And Rhaegar, Aerys, and Aegon are dead. Well...there is Viserys, who would have been Aerys' heir after Rhaegar. He's not dead. So why are they not with him?
A4: They do not go to Viserys because their duty as kingsguard(!) is not with him.
“Ser Willem Darry is fled to Dragonstone, with your queen and Prince Viserys. I thought you might have sailed with him.” “Ser Willem is a good man and true,” said Ser Oswell. “But not of the Kingsguard,” Ser Gerold pointed out. “The Kingsguard does not flee.” “Then or now,” said Ser Arthur. He donned his helm. “We swore a vow,” explained old Ser Gerold.
This is the final revelation and it answers the key question in all of this. The kingsguard performed their duty by guarding their king at the Tower of Joy. They are not serving Aerys by remaining there. And they are also not doing Viserys, who is currently at Dragonstone, any favors. Whatever vow they swore as kingsguard relates to the ToJ. And we know (per RLJ) that the two people at the tower are Lyanna Stark and Jon Snow, Rhaegar's last surviving son and heir.
We're given two key pieces of information with the last two sets of question and answer in regards to the kingsguards performing their duty by guarding Jon at the tower. First when Arthur Dayne says that, "our knees do not bend easily". Of course, they do not bend for Robert the usurper as we already know...
...But, the start of the dream features a very important detail.
Ser Oswell Whent was on one knee, sharpening his blade with a whetstone. 
Ser Oswell has already bent the knee. And he means to fight for the king he has sworn a vow to since he is preparing his sword.
Then we have Ser Gerold 'pointing out' (thus bringing attention to) the fact that though Prince Viserys and Queen Rhaella are still alive and under the protection of a good knight, they are not under the protection of kingsguard. The kings guard does not flee - they stand their ground and fight for their king. And this is again asserted by Ser Gerold who reminds Ned that “we swore a vow.”
So we have a three four part revelation that the last stand at the ToJ involved protecting little Jon who, at that time, was recognized as king by the three knights.
This doesn't end here. Jaime's ASOS dream also has him confront ghosts of the pasts and the question of oaths comes up, as it did in Ned's dream. The two dreams intersect when the topic of the kingsguard's duty comes up. And we see that as it was in Ned's dream, the three knights at the ToJ were fulfilling their primary oaths to protect (and die) for their king.
“I swore an oath to keep him safe,” [Brienne] said to Rhaegar’s shade. “I swore a holy oath.” “We all swore oaths,” said Ser Arthur Dayne, so sadly. [...] “He was your king,” said Darry. “You swore to keep him safe,” said Whent. “And the children, them as well,” said Prince Lewyn. [...] “I never thought he’d hurt them.” Jaime’s sword was burning less brightly now. “I was with the king …” “Killing the king,” said Ser Arthur. “Cutting his throat,” said Prince Lewyn. “The king you had sworn to die for,” said the White Bull.
Once again, we have the affirmation that the kingsguard swear vows to protect their king even if it leads to their deaths. And as we know, all these kingsguard died during Robert's Rebellion. Three died at the Trident with Rhaegar, fighting for their king's cause. So why are the other three who were at the ToJ lumped with them?
Of course, this is Jaime's conscious. And his relationship with Dayne, Hightower, and Whent is very different from Ned's. But the point remains that as the narrative suggests, they too died for their king. They fulfilled their oaths to completion. But the king they died for was not Aerys or Aegon or Viserys. Their king was a tiny babe - Jon Snow.
Though this feverish dream is part of a much larger reveal (that is R+L=J), Ned’s conversation with the three kingsguard plays into one of the key motifs in Jon Snow’s arc - that is his identity as the king. Not a king. But THE king.
What makes the three part revelation so interesting in this passage is that not everyone has figured R+L=J out. But to the astute observer, this key passage is just another piece of important evidence that plays into the hidden prince trope that RLJ falls under. And not only that, it yet another instance of Jon being recognized as the true king by the narrative.
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blackbyrenflowers · 6 months
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Okay, but you cant tell me that the kingsguard didnt fucking hate Jaime at first. Like imagine you're a 34 year old or something just doing your job and your boss decides to hire some 15 year old as part of a weird revenge scheme on his dad who he used to be friends with. Also he gets to wear his own super special gaudy gold uniform because he's obscenely rich while you guys are stuck with white. I'd have stabbed him.
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turtle-paced · 3 months
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What do you think lyanna relationship or interaction or even thoughts/treatment was like with the three kings guard after Rhaegar left to Ned coming?
At that point, with Rhaegar away (and then dead) and two of her brothers alive, I think Lyanna wanted out. The Kingsguard apparently had orders to keep her 'safe', and interpreted this as keeping her away from her family. There's a fundamental conflict there.
As for the details, I think that's more fanfic territory.
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daenerysoftarth · 9 months
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jfc wait just realized that when Jaime joined the Kingsguard he was 15… most boys don’t start growing any kind of facial hair until they’re in their mid to late 20s. Jaime probably would’ve at most just started getting some peach fuzz. so his dad obviously isn’t there to teach him anymore, and that rite of passage is instead passed over to arthur dayne. imagine that scene of arthur dayne tenderly cradling jaime in his first days as kingsguard, getting Jaime ready to look the part of Noble Knight ™, seeing that gleam of pride in Jaime’s eye, knowing how close it is that his fantasy is shattered by one of Aerys’ foul moods. imagine him cupping Jaime’s face as he teaches him how to shave with his own sword.
… imagine jaime using that same sword when he stabs aerys, holding the king’s face almost tenderly as he died like arthur held his
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twoiafart · 1 year
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THE FIRST KINGSGUARD Artwork by MV Renju
Visenya saw the Kingsguard not only as a protective force for the king, but also as a powerful emblem of his right to rule. Though other kings may have had single champions, the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms should have seven, she declared, and these seven should be knights, sworn and anointed to the king’s service alone. Their cloaks and armor would be pure white, showing both the purity of their duty and their lack of allegiance to whatever house they had been born into. She modeled their vows on those of the Night’s Watch, and like the Night’s Watch, they would serve for life—giving up their fortunes and lands and titles, and swearing themselves to celibacy, so they would be devoted to no one but the king.
Also, rather than choosing champions from a grand tourney, Visenya hand-picked the men herself, judging them by their loyalty and willingness to die for their king as well as by their skill at arms. The first seven she chose are storied names: Ser Richard Roote; Ser Addison Hill, Bastard of Cornfield; the brothers Ser Gregor and Ser Griffith Goode; Ser Humfrey the Mummer; Ser Robin Darklyn, called Darkrobin; and Ser Corlys Velaryon, the first Lord Commander. Each would have their names and deeds written down in the White Book, the chronicle of the Kingsguard, and two would die in the king’s service.
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last-ofthe-starks · 2 years
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A HISTORY LESSON AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WHITE BOOK
**Spoilers for House of the Dragon, keep on scrolling if you’re looking to avoid them!**
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In episode 3, we hear Criston Cole thank Rhaenyra for choosing him to serve as a member of the Kingsguard and having his name added to the White Book. This is not the first time we’ve heard of this book, and been offered insight into what a huge honor it is to have your name inside it.
Formally titled The Book of the Brothers, The White Book of the Kingsguard dates back to the beginning of Aegon I’s reign. It is where one can find the names of every Kingsguard member and read about their noteworthy deeds while serving their king.
It was Aegon’s sister wife Visenya who decided that as Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, Aegon needed seven knights. These men were known as Aegon’s Seven, and this decision of Visenya’s is how the Kingsguard as we know it originally came to exist. Upon his announcement that he would be looking for seven knights to serve him, Aegon ended up with so many knights offering themselves as candidates that he considered hosting a great tournament to determine who was most worthy.
But Visenya refused. She said that regardless of a knight’s skill and prowess on a horse, she would not place men into the Kingsguard who had not yet proven their combat abilities and loyalties to the king. Instead, she decided that she would choose the knights herself (sound familiar??).
The White Book is estimated at two feet tall, a foot and a half wide, and a thousand pages thick. It is bound in bleached white leather, with gold hinges (reminiscent of the Gold Cloaks attire). The book is kept in the Red Keep in the White Sword Tower, where the knights of the Kingsguard sleep. We have yet to see this space but I’m hoping we get to in House of the Dragon.
Each knight of the Kingsguard has one page in the White Book for their name and various exploits, along with an illustration of their household crest in the corner. In Game of Thrones season 8, we get to see a glimpse of Jamie Lannister’s page when Brienne of Tarth returns him to Kings Landing and adds his final acts as a member of the Kingsguard to the book and completes the entry in the wake of his death.
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Under King Jaehaerys’ rule, the ‘War for the White Cloaks’ was created. Taking place after the wedding for the Queen Regent, Alyssa, the event saw seven full days of duels (they have this thing with the number seven, if you haven’t noticed😉). It was Alyssa who had originally suggested the tourney in order to select the finest knights of the realm to protect her son. She proclaimed that the knights chosen to serve on the Kingsguard should “win their cloaks with the deeds of their arms while the realm looks on.” This tradition of a tournament is similar to the the one we see taking place in episode 1 of House of the Dragon.
King Jaehaerys would rule for fifty five years, and many Kingsguard would be written into the book in that time. Presently in HOTD, Sir Harrold Westerling is serving as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. In the upcoming episodes if we continue to follow the book plot closely, there will be many monumental shifts in the order of the Kingsguard. All of which will have enormous repercussions on the Targaryen family.
Many book readers (and likely show watchers) would/will argue that the singular decision of Rhaenyra naming Sir Criston to the Kingsguard was the first domino to fall in the Dance of the Dragons storyline. This moment between Sir Criston and Rhaenyra from episode 3 when he thanks her for choosing him is incredible foreshadowing, and I can’t wait to see how it plays out in the show.
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horizon-verizon · 1 year
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And here again our sources differ. That night, Septon Eustace reports, Ser Criston Cole slipped into the princess’s bedchamber to confess his love for her. He told Rhaenyra that he had a ship waiting on the bay, and begged her to flee with him across the narrow sea. They would be wed in Tyrosh or Old Volantis, where her father’s writ did not run, and no one would care that Ser Criston had betrayed his vows as a member of the Kingsguard. His prowess with sword and morningstar was such that he did not doubt he could find some merchant prince to take him into service. But Rhaenyra refused him. She was the blood of the dragon, she reminded him, and meant for more than to live out her life as the wife of a common sellsword. And if he could set aside his Kingsguard vows, why would marriage vows mean any more to him?
Fire and Blood, by George R.R. Martin, pg 370-371  
[PT6 of What Happened Between Rhaenyra, Daemon, and Criston]
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tronodiferro · 1 year
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The Kingsguard
GameOfThronesFanatic-Knjiga
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pistil-whipped · 2 years
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Fear the color gold
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thebluelemontree · 2 years
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Do you think Arys Oakheart had the necessary skill and temperament to be an effective Lord Commander of the Kingsguard? Meaning both in general as well as the present circumstances in Kings Landing
No. Not at all. Arys's personality is very go-along-to-get-along. Skillwise, he's good enough of a knight to be given a white cloak. He's handsome and polite, so he lends that polish and social grace to the rougher elements of the kingsguard roster. He's sufficiently obedient by Joffrey and Cersei's standards but doesn't have the spine or heartlessness to be the kind of tool they prefer. He follows Joffrey's cue and laughs along at Barristan Selmy's disgrace, but he also feels kinda bad about hitting Sansa. Bad enough to muster a little protest, but not bad enough that would risk being disciplined by refusing. So he splits the difference by not hitting her as hard as everyone else. Little by little, small compromises in values lead to becoming compromised. In under six months, Arys is seduced by Arianne Martell and turns rogue against King Tommen when he is persuaded to support Myrcella's claim to the Iron Throne. His whole chapter as The Soiled Knight has him torn apart by his conflicting desires to both wear the white cloak with honor and tear it and its burdens off. It was easier before to wear the cloak when he merely needed to obey the decisions of others, but now that he's far away in a foreign court and forced to make decisions for himself, not so much. What he discovers about himself in Dorne is that he chooses his lover over his kingsguard vows more and more. When Arianne suggests he could have both her and his white cloak under Queen Myrcella... it just feels wrong. So wrong, and yet it would also resolve this terrible conflict within himself, wouldn't it? Oh boy... I don't think you can call any of this leadership material by any standard. The man is dying for someone to provide him an escape hatch from being made to choose. There is a lot of irony to being named Oakheart as if his character and his sense of honor were as strong and stalwart as the mighty tree itself. I will give Arys this: he is far more self-reflective than Barristan Selmy about who and what he has served and more honest about what his own failings have led to. He knows he doesn't have the mettle for what a kingsguard is supposed to stand for, and never did. He was built for a simpler man's life and it's tragic that wasn't his fate. There is no way for him to live as a kingsguard without his heart letting him down at every turn and making him feel soiled and unworthy. He can't make his feelings for Arianne stop. They've awakened in him a longing for a life he can't have. He can't renounce the cloak without shame and disgrace either. When things come to a head, he sees only one escape hatch, one choice, available to him to resolve this crisis and regain his sense of honor and self-worth:
We are taken, ser, Arianne might have called out. Your death will not free us. If you love your princess, yield. But when she tried to speak, the words caught in her throat.
Ser Arys Oakheart gave her one last longing look, then put his golden spurs into his horse and charged. -- The Queenmaker, AFFC.
Ugh. I feel sad now. No, he's not a leader. He was misplaced in the kingsguard. He's a mostly decent, but entirely too passive man who was unfortunate enough to serve bad rulers and was ill-equipped to stand up for himself or others. He was built for love, not duty. And he was harder on himself than anyone else was, and it broke him.
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wodania · 3 days
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“He’s me, Jaime realized suddenly. I am speaking to myself, as I was, all cocksure arrogance and empty chivalry. This is what it does to you, to be too good too young,” jaime viii, a storm of swords
Ser Loras Tyrell of the Kingsguard
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turtle-paced · 11 months
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In ASoS, Jaime says, "Crippled or whole, a knight of the Kingsguard serves for life", but would a knight of the Kingsguard who lost his sight or his ability to walk (or his mental faculties, e.g. dementia) still be expected to continue in his duties?
Here's the context:
Lord Tywin glanced at Jaime's stump again. "You cannot serve in the Kingsguard without a sword hand—"
"I can," he interrupted. "And I will. There's precedent. I'll look in the White Book and find it, if you like. Crippled or whole, a knight of the Kingsguard serves for life."
Jaime VII, ASoS
I think there's a distinction to be made between "serving" and "contining in their duties". Jaime's point is that no matter what, a Kingsguard is a Kingsguard. They can't be removed. That does not necessarily mean they're still taking actual shifts.
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visenyaism · 8 months
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egg did summerhall is already a devastating realization that haunts the narrative but personally i do not think i will be recovering from the lord commander dunk was also almost definitely complicit in the kingsguard’s violent neglect of rhaella targaryen realization
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greenbloods · 5 months
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The way they get you is telling you “it’s an honor to serve” and you’re doing your duty “for the realm” and all of a sudden they’re putting a white cloak around your shoulders and a sword in your hand and you’re standing outside the door of the idiot prince and making sure he doesn’t sneak out into the Street of Silk and break his neck riding a horse but before breakfast you have to give a therapy session to the second son who you’re pretty sure is trying to seduce his older brother for the succession and become the first case of gay valyrian incest and also you’re sleeping in the same room as six other men for the rest of your life and you don’t even have dental
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emprcaesar · 5 months
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i love how jon joins the nights watch because he thinks that’s what he deserves. jon so obviously wanted to be a knight. he was obsessed with the songs of knighthood and gallantry but he isn’t a true born son. he isn’t brandon stark who has people encouraging him and feeding into his fantasy of being a knight. so he joins the watch and fucking hates it.
jon joins the bastard version of knighthood, the nights watch. he takes the same oaths he would’ve taken as a member of the kingsguard chastity, protect the realm, protect the innocent but instead of having songs sung about you and having a legacy to leave behind you sit on a cold wall and wait till you die.
this just makes me think if he had a little more self confidence and self worth he wouldn’t have gone to the wall and he could’ve helped robb win the war.
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horizon-verizon · 1 year
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Near year’s end, a shameful revelation came to light that shocked both court and city. The amiable and well-loved Ser Lucamore Strong of the Kingsguard, a favorite of the smallfolk, was found to have been secretly wed, despite the vows that he had sworn as a White Sword. Worse, he had taken not one but three wives, keeping each woman ignorant of the other two and fathering no fewer than sixteen children on the three of them. In Flea Bottom and along the Street of Silk where whores and panders plied their trade, men and women of low birth and lower morals took a wicked pleasure in the fall of an anointed knight, and made bawdy japes about “Ser Lucamore the Lusty,” but no laughter was heard in the Red Keep. Jaehaerys and Alysanne had been especially fond of Lucamore Strong and were mortified to learn that he had played them both for fools. His brothers of the Kingsguard were even angrier. It was Ser Ryam Redwyne who discovered Ser Lucamore’s transgressions and brought them to the attention of the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, who in turn brought them to the king. Speaking for his Sworn Brothers, Ser Gyles Morrigen declared that Strong had dishonored all they stood for, and requested that he be put to death. When dragged before the Iron Throne, Ser Lucamore fell to his knees, confessed his guilt, and begged the king for mercy. Jaehaerys might well have granted him same, but the errant knight made the fatal error of appending “for the sake of my wives and children” to his plea. As Septon Barth observed, this was tantamount to throwing his crimes in the king’s face. “When I rose against my uncle Maegor, two of his Kingsguard abandoned him to fight for me,” Jaehaerys responded. “They might well have believed they would be allowed to keep their white cloaks once I’d won, perhaps even be honored with lordships and a higher place at court. I sent them to the Wall instead. I wanted no oathbreakers around me, then or now. Ser Lucamore, you swore a sacred vow before gods and men to defend me and mine with your own life, to obey me, fight for me, die for me if need be. You also swore to take no wife, father no children, and remain chaste. If you could shrug aside the second vow so easily, why should I believe that you would honor the first?” Then Queen Alysanne spoke up, saying, “You made a mockery of your oaths as a knight of the Kingsguard, but those were not the only vows you broke. You dishonored your marriage vows as well, not once but thrice. None of these women are lawfully wed, so these children I see behind you are bastards one and all. They are the true innocents in this, ser. Your wives were ignorant of one another, I am told, but each of them must surely have known that you were a White Sword, a knight of the Kingsguard. To that extent they share your guilt, as does whatever drunken septon you found to marry you. For them some  mercy may be warranted, but for you...I will not have you near my lord, ser.” There was no more to be said. As the false knight’s wives and children wept or cursed or stood in silence, Jaehaerys commanded that Ser Lucamore be gelded forthwith, then clapped in irons and sent off to the Wall. “The Night’s Watch will require vows from you as well,” His Grace warned. “See that you keep them, or the next thing you lose shall be your head. Jaehaerys left it to his queen to deal with the three families. Alysanne decreed that Ser Lucamore’s sons might join their father on the Wall, if they wished. The two oldest boys chose to do so. The girls would be accepted as novices by the Faith, if that was their desire. Only one elected that path. The other children were to remain with their mothers. The first of the wives, with her children, was given over to the charge of Lucamore’s brother Bywin, who had been raised to be the Lord of Harrenhal not half a year earlier. The second wife and her offspring would go to Driftmark, to be fostered by Daemon Velaryon, Lord of the Tides. The third wife, whose children were the youngest (one still on her breast), would be sent down to Storm’s End, where Garon Baratheon and young Lord Boremund would see to their upbringing. None were ever again to call themselves Strong, the queen decreed; from this day they would bear the bastard names Rivers, Waters, and Storm. “For that gift, you may thank your father, that hollow knight.””
Fire and Blood, by George R.R. Martin, pg 298-300 
[The Lucamore Strong Scandal]
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