WHAT an end to season 6 huh? Didn’t you just love it when <SPOILERS>? And my favourite bit was when <SPOILERS>. And, of course, we were all waiting for <SPOILERS>!
Anyway, on to some spoilers I’m allowed to reveal – info about my upcoming Megagame!
Taking an existing fantasy setting and going back in time is a risky move. Some of you will want to take the story as it stands and run with it. Some of you will want to revolt completely against the things your book or TV counterpart did. Even if some of you do one or the other, hopefully there’ll be enough differences to make it a very different story.
Today I’m going to talk a little bit about some assumptions you may have made regarding certain characters or aspects of Westeros which will be different within the game.
NOTE: if you haven’t read or watched Game of Thrones, this may not be beneficial for you to read, as you will come to the game without these preconceptions anyway. Plus it might not make sense without the back story. Read on at your own risk.
King Aerys
Ahhhh yes, the Mad King. Most of you will have heard the terrible things that the Mad King did: burning a father while his son strangled himself trying to rescue him and plotting to burn all of Kings Landing down with wildfire are the main two that come to mind.
But these haven’t happened yet, and in our game may never happen.
Sure, the King is a little paranoid. But wouldn’t you be? Just three years ago he was taken captive by his bannermen, the Darklyns of Duskendale, for six months, and held against his will with no visible attempts at intervention by his supposed loyal Small Councillors or Kingsguard.
In his youth he was a strong and ambitious ruler, with many plans to improve his kingdom – increasing Westeros’ borders, conquering Braavos, irrigating Dorne – however none of these plans came to fruition. But his old friend and Hand, Tywin Lannister, was successful across the board in a way Aerys never was. It is likely that his jealousy has caused him to become especially suspicious of Tywin.
He’s reticent about stepping foot outside the Red Keep, and won’t see Lord Tywin without all seven of his Kingsguard being present, but other than that he’s just a little eccentric.
Rhaegar Targaryen
I won’t delve into spoiler/theory territory here, as everything that’s involved in said rumours took place later than our game start time.
Rhaegar is oft cited as the evil man who kidnapped Lyanna Stark, sister to Eddard Stark and betrothed of Robert Baratheon.
But at the time this game takes place, this hasn’t happened, and Rhaegar is the epitome of knightly honour. Tall, handsome, well-read, polite, and an excellent fighter, Rhaegar is the guy all the girls want and all the guys want to be.
Walder Frey
In the books/TV show, the Freys slaughter guests under their own roof. You might notice that no one expected this to happen… because they haven’t exactly done it before!
Walder is a bit cantankerous and angry, but he’s got to get his girls married off somehow, and that isn’t going to happen if they kill everyone that comes to dinner. Don’t expect him to stab you the first time you turn your back.
Roose Bolton
Roose Bolton has only a young baby heir, and no other living family. Roose Bolton would be very unwise to try to betray anyone too readily.
The North remembers far better at this time than at the time of the current TV series.
The Iron Throne
The king is the king is the king. The king sits on the Iron Throne and is a Targaryen, and killing a king is the worst crime in the kingdom. Whoever were to do so would go down in history as a kingslayer and would be able to earn no honour for the rest of their life. Aka it’s pretty baaaad.
Sound a bit dull?
Fear not! There will be betrayal, lies and secrets aplenty! This is Westeros after all! They just may not come from the people you’d expect…
Check back next week for info about the roles in the game.