Supreme Court of Westeros, ruling 119

Thursday is court day! Sorry for the delay. 

Welcome to the Supreme Court of Westeros! Every week, three pressing questions from the community will be answered by the esteemed judges Stefan (from your very own Nerdstream Era) and Amin (from A Podcast of Ice and Fire). The rules are simple: we take three questions, and one of us writes a measured analysis. The other one writes a shorter opinion, either concurring or dissenting. The catch is that every week a third judge from the fandom will join us and also write a dissenting or concurring opinion. So if you think you're up to the task - write us an email to stefan_sasse@gmx.de, leave a comment in the post, ask in the APOIAF-forum or contact Amin at his tumblr. Discussion is by no means limited to the court itself, though - feel free to discuss our rulings in the commentary section and ask your own questions through the channels above.

One word on spoilers: we assume that you read all the books, including the Hedge Knight short stories, and watched the current TV episodes. We don't include the spoiler chapters from various sources in the discussion, with the notable exception of Theon I, which was supposed to be in "A Dance with Dragons" anyway.

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And now, up to ruling 118! Our guest judge this week is James McCullough, a 31 year old History MA student who enjoys a wide range of literature but has been hooked on ASOIAF since his younger sister introduced him to it just before the TV show came out. She recently returned from Australia, which is great as they have many discussions on what is going to happen in TWOW and how they feel the show should have gone with certain story lines (Jaime in Dorne, ouch!!!).

Will Justin Massey hire sellswords in Braavos?

Main Opinion: Amin

Justin Massey will try to do so. I don’t think he will run away with the money or something like that, despite the fact that some people may question his loyalty. Whether he succeeds before hearing updated news from Stannis is another question, but as long as he has access to the funds provided by the Iron Bank, he should be able to gather sellswords. Note that there may be a harder market for sellswords given that many are heading to Dany’s area of the world for the conflict there.

Concurring in part, dissenting in part: Stefan

Undoubtedly, Justin Massey will try to hire sellswords in Braavos, although I’d be surprised if he’ll find many. Where I deviate from Justice Amin’s opinion is that in my eyes the whole sellswords are essentially a red herring, narratively speaking. Justin Massey’s purpose in Braavos is to relay dependable information to Arya, especially considering Jeyne Poole. This will reestablish contact with Westeros, and likely prompt her to leave the Faceless Men.

Concurring Opinion: James McCullough

Ser Justin Massey will undoubtedly try to buy the sellswords that Stannis has asked for. Stannis is shrewd judge of character and will have chosen Ser Justin for this task because of loyalty but also because he has the diplomatic skills to actually hire the sellswords in a competitive environment. Stannis may not know of Dany but he does know that the Lannister Army is reliant on the Tyrell’s, so therefore Lannister gold could/should also be buying sellswords to boost their own military strength. Also, House Massey is in the Crownlands, which indicates to me that they are spurning King Tommen because they correctly believe Twincest and therefore that Stannis is the rightful King. On top of that, Ser Justin is also a Queen’s Man and believes that Stannis is Azor Ahai, so I cannot see him abandoning the cause as he bound to Stannis by his beliefs.

Final Verdict: He will try at least. 

Did Balon deserve a more grandiose death?

Main Opinion: Amin

No, on two counts. First, despite the praise he gets from the other Ironborn, he was a douchebag who screwed over his people twice. His father was finally getting the Ironborn working with the realm and he worked to undue that. Then he blew a real chance for independence by waiting for Robert to solidify his rule and rebelling afterwards, rather than right at the end of the war (though apparently he wanted to attack House Targaryen at that point). Then he let his pride get in the way of a decent deal from Robb Stark and set his house on the path for another collapse. He didn’t deserve a grandiose death. On the second pont, his death was somewhat grandiose in a manner in that it was one of the deaths foretold by multiple prophecies and visions, which is not the case for many deaths.

Concurring Opinion: Stefan

Balon deserves a death en par with that of Tywin Lannister, literally being stuck in his own shit. Being shoved off the damn bridge is far too nice for the sucker. As Justice Amin rightly pointed out, Balon is one of the worst things that happened to the Ironborn especially and Westeros generally in that period, and he doesn’t deserve anything.

Concurring in part, dissenting in part: James McCullough

I agree with Judge Amin that the Balon was a major douchebag and that his stratergies in his initial rebellion and the taking of North did not deserve to have a grander departing from the world. He claimed to be a king but he was nothing of the kind. Echoing Judge Amin, he actually undid all of his father’s good work and brought misery to Iron Islands. His own poor leadership has lead to Euron now leading the Iron Islands to certain defeat. The other side to this that the Fandom does love the Stark’s, and it would have been nice if somehow his death was at the hands of one of our beloved Starklings in a grand fashion. I am not sure who or how though. So I suppose I am saying he deserved a grandiose death because I want a Stark to deliver the death blow. Also, all of the Kings from the War of the Five who did die did so in a grandiose fashion, and who is to say a death by a Faceless Man is not grandiose?

Final Verdict: No, he doesn't deserve anything. 

Why does GRRM build so much background for the Blackfyre rebellions?

Main Opinion: Amin

The background for the Blackfyre rebellions is important because it ties to the current storyline. The past conflict of Blackfyre and Targaryen is potentially renewing itself with Aegon’s arrival. Bloodraven was also a major player in those wars and he is still around now and influencing things. So there is a lot of past history that is relevant to the current story. In addition, George enjoys worldbuilding, and the rebellions are a good ground for that. Even if the extra information is not relevant, it helps flesh out the world and is probably easier to write in some ways than moving the current storyline forward, because discrepancies in past events can always be written off as mistakes in the written histories.

Concurring in part, dissenting in part: Stefan

I’m pretty much on board with the theory that Aegon VI is in truth of Blackfyre descent, and so the machinations of Bittersteel and the Golden Company are pretty impactful and important as background for this storyline. Other than that, I have little to add besides the fact that they play a very important role in the Dunk&Egg novellas and need to be developed for that reason alone.

Concurring Opinion: James McCullough

It is hard to add to what Amin has written there because it is so spot on. I think the Blackfyre Rebellions are also an important part of how the Targaryen Dynasty was plagued by some form of rebellion so the Robert’s Rebellion was not just a one-off. It also shows GRRM understanding medieval dynastic politics whereby there was rarely a period of peace in any Kingdom. 

Final Verdict: Because he loves to, and they're important for the backstory.